An Experimental Study on Airborne Contamination and Decontamination for $Na^{131}I$ Solution

$Na^{131}I$에 의(依)한 오염도(汚染度) 및 오염제거(汚染除去)의 실험적(實驗的) 연구(硏究)

A lot of radioisotopes are applied to medical fields. It's very important to measure the activities on airborne radioiodine discharged in air from $Na^{131}I$ solutions and from patients treated with radioiodine. Also surface decontamination is another one important problem to be completly solved in the isotope laboratory where there is always the possibility of radiation contamination. The Authors measured the activities on airborne radioiodine with RI collector and scintillation counter. 1. The mean accumulative activity of airborne radioiodine discharged into air from $Na^{131}I$ solution was measured as $1.3{\times}10^{-3}/hr$ rate, and the maximum value was $1.8{\times}10^{-3}/hr$. 2. Radioactivity rate per hour of airborne iodine discharged into air from patients treated with $Na^{131}I$ was measured as $6.2{\times}10^{-5}/hr$ at 8 hour after administration of radioiodine and decreased into $2{\times}10^{-6}/hr$ after 24 hour. 3. Metalic surfaces such as stainless steel or aluminum are decontaminated 5 to 6 times more rapidly than wood and concrete surfaces. 4. Decontamination with wet wiping with detergent was 9 to 10 times more rapidly than dry wiping method, but dry wiping was useful for the first step to prevent spreading and flowing from liquid radioactive materials.