To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 15:49:10 -0500
Subject: [WSFA] Re: radioactive subway riders
From: ronkean at juno.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

On Fri, 6 Dec 2002 08:01:51 -0800 (PST) N Lynch <sfbookfan at yahoo.com>
writes:

> If the radiation from a patient who has been treated
> with radioactive iodine or other isotopes can be
> detected by radiation detection devices installed in
> public places, what is exposure risk to the people
> riding the train with him or her?  Or long term
> exposure by a spouse or caregiver?
>
> Nicki

Probably not much.  The person who has been given radioactive isotopes
will get far more exposure due to the radioactive material placed in his
body than would others, and if it has been judged not dangerous on
balance for the treated patient, it would be even less dangerous for
others.

One way to look at it is that perhaps the sensors are too sensitive if
they are being triggered under such circumstances, but whether that is
actually the case would depend on how sensitive they really need to be to
do the job of detecting plausible radiation hazards.  Finely powdered
plutonium is deadly in very small amounts if it gets into the lungs, and
many countries make plutonium as a byproduct of nuclear reactor
operation.

Radiation is a part of routine living.  Walking in the sunshine, or
riding in an airliner, or living in a house made of brick, subject one to
radiation.  Uranium in the ground decays into radioactive radon gas which
seeps into peoples' homes.  Montgomery County has a number of natural
radioactive hotspots.

Ron Kean

.

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