Results of individual dosimetric monitoring of the hands skin for personnel engaged in working with radiopharmaceuticals

With the active development and wide use of positron emission tomography, ensuring radiation safety in matters of irradiation of the skin of the hands of personnel, has become very important. Work with radiopharmaceuticals labeled with various radionuclides is characterized by fairly close contact with a source of ionizing radiation, during which the skin of the hands can be irradiated in significant doses. Thus, the effect of ionizing radiation on the skin of the hands is one of the main problems of radiation protection of personnel at nuclear medicine centers. The work of personnel at nuclear medicine centers, depending on the nature of the actions performed, can be divided into two types: predominantly manual processes (nurses – packaging and administration of drugs, analytical chemists – quality control) and predominantly automated processes (radiochemical engineers – synthesis, packaging into vials). The individual equivalent doses to the skin of the hands of nurses, analytical chemists and radiochemical engineers working with 18F-based radiopharmaceuticals were estimated using thermoluminescence dosimetry with individual dosimeters calibrated in terms of Hp(0.07). The maximum annual value obtained fo radiochemical engineers was 7.8 mSv, which is 1.56% of the dose limit, and for analytical chemists it was 171 mSv, which is 34% of the dose limit (mean value was 28 mSv, median was 8.8 mSv, minimum value was 4.6 mSv). At the same time, nurses, who are mainly engaged in the packaging and administration of radiopharmaceuticals, have higher values of annual doses in the skin of the hands (mean value – 114 mSv, median – 56 mSv, minimum value – 1.3 mSv). The maximum value of the annual dose in the skin of the hands, recorded during the work, for a nurse was 573 mSv, i.e. the dose limit of 500 mSv was exceeded. The results of the work indicate that specialists involved in manual processes when manipulating radiopharmaceuticals require special attention from the standpoint of individual dosimetric control of the irradiation dose to the skin of the hands and compliance with radiation safety requirements.