Development and performance evaluation of medical radiation-reducing creams using eco-friendly radiation-shielding composites

To ensure the safety of medical personnel in healthcare organizations, radiation-shielding materials like protective clothing are used to protect against low-dose radiation, such as scattered rays. The extremities, particularly the hands, are the most exposed to radiation. New materials that can be directly coated onto the skin would be more cost-effective, efficient, and convenient than gloves. We developed protective creams using eco-friendly shielding materials, including barium sulfate, bismuth oxide, and ytterbium oxide, to avoid harmful effects of heavy metals like lead, and tested their skin-protective effects. Particularly, the radiation-shielding effect of ytterbium oxide was compared with that of the other materials. As shielding material dispersion and layer thickness greatly affect the efficacy of radiation-shielding creams, we assessed dispersion in terms of the weight percentage (wt%). The effective radiation energy was reduced by 20% with a 1.0-mm increase in cream thickness. Ytterbium oxide had a higher radiation-shielding rate than the other two materials. A 28% difference in protective effect was observed with varying wt%, and the 45 wt% cream at 63.4 keV radiation achieved a 61.3% reduction rate. Higher content led to a more stable incident energy-reducing effect. In conclusion, ytterbium oxide shows potential as a radiation-shielding material for creams.