Measurement of Iodine (I-131) Contamination in Staff Working in Nuclear Medicine Facilities

The increasing use of the radiopharmaceutical Iodine-131 (I-131) in nuclear medicine services has implications for the potential for internal radiation received by workers. I-131 has high volatility so it has the potential to become an air contaminant and be inhaled by nuclear medicine staff as internal radiation exposure. This study aims to estimate I-131 contamination in staff at a nuclear medicine facility using a gamma spectrometer. Measurements of I-131 activity in the thyroid were carried out on 38 staff including medical physicists, nuclear medicine specialists, radiographers, radio-pharmacists, nurses, house attendants, and cleaners. The I-131 activity value measured in the staff's thyroid had an activity value range of 13.1 – 238.2 Bq in 13 nuclear medicine staff. Meanwhile, for 25 other medical staff, the I-131 activity values ??measured in the thyroid had activity values ??below the detection limit of the device (14.2 ± 4.3 Bq for men and 11.8 ± 3.5 Bq for women). The highest internal dose rate measured in the thyroid of Pramu Husada nuclear medicine staff and radiopharmaceuticals was 0.1-0.5 mSv/year. This value is still below the dose limit value for internal radiation.