Radionuclidic contamination in nuclear medicine: Evaluation of various decontamination products

Objectives Radionuclidic contamination in a nuclear medicine department can occur. In order to determine an optimal decontamination procedure, our department evaluated specific decontamination products on I-131 and Tc-99m spills.

Methods Our laboratory evaluated I-131 and Tc-99m decontamination procedures on linoleum using four products: Dr. K Iodowash; Radiacwash (Biodex); Super Sani Cloth; Comet Cleanser/Brillo pad. For each procedure, a linoleum sample was spotted with the specific radionuclide. After 30 minutes, the spill was wiped, the specific product applied for 10 seconds and removed. This was followed by a soaking procedure with the same product (5 minutes) followed by wiping. A control decontamination procedure using water was also performed. Prior to and after each decontamination procedure radiation levels were measured using a GM survey meter/pancake probe and percent contamination calculated. Decay correction was utilized whenever appropriate. After determining an optimal method, a decontamination procedure was performed.

Results For I-131 linoleum contamination, a 36.6%, 52.1%, 90.8%, 98.4%, and 36.0% reduction was noted for Dr. K Iodowash, Radiacwash, Super Sani Cloth, Comet Cleanser/Brillo pad and control, respectively. For Tc-99m linoleum contamination, a 75.9%, 80.4%, 91.7%, 96.6% and 5.8% reduction was noted for Dr. K ‘Iodowash, Radiacwash, Super Sani Cloth, Comet Cleanser/Brillo pad and control, respectively. The optimal Tc-99m decontamination procedure consisted of two steps, Super Sani Cloth wipe followed by a Comet Cleanser/Brillo decontamination procedure. With this procedure, contamination removal from Super Sani Cloth wipe and Comet Cleanser/Brillo pad was 74.4% and 98.1%, respectively.

Conclusions Various decontamination products suitable for I-131 and Tc-99m spills were evaluated. As a result, an optimal decontamination procedure was formulated consisting of two steps: Super Sani Cloth wipe decontamination followed by a more intense Comet Cleanser/Brillo pad decontamination