RADIATION

HAZARDS
and
PROTECTION
MODERATORS:
PROF : DR DHRUBAJYOTHI
BORPATRAGOHAIN
PROF & HOD : DR M.H.BHUYAN

PRESENTED BY DR SIVABALAN J
1
 Radiation is a form of energy that propagates through matter or
space in the form of wave or particulate manner.

 Radiation Hazard: Risk of damage to cells or tissue from being

exposed to any amount of ionizing radiation.
SOURCES OF RADIATION:

A. Natural radiation: 72%

1. External: Cosmic and gamma radiation
2. Internal: radionuclides with in the body ingested or
inhaled

B. Man made: 28%

1. Diagnostic 83% (Medical x-ray ,CT and nuclear
imaging)
2. Therapeutic , Sterilisation, 17%
3. Nuclear weapons/industry/accidents
 THREE TYPES OF EXPOSURE
 Medical Exposure (principally the exposure of persons as
part of their diagnostic or treatment).

 Occupational Exposure (exposure incurred at work, and

practically as a result of work).

 Public Exposure (including all other exposures).

RADIO-SENSITIVITY [RS] AND
ITS LAW
 RS = Probability of a cell, tissue or organ
of suffering an effect per unit of dose.

Radio-sensitivity of living tissues varies

with maturation & metabolism;
 Stem cells are radiosensitive. More
mature cells are more resistant.
 Younger tissues are more sensitive.
 Tissues with high metabolic activity are
highly radiosensitive.
 High proliferation and growth rate,
high radio-sensitivity.
INTRODUCTION:

The first recorded biologic effect of radiation was seen by
Becquerel, who developed erythema and subsequently
ulceration when radium container was left accidentally in his left
pocket.

Clarence Dally, who had worked extensively with X-rays, died of
skin cancer in 1904, it was the first death attributed to radiation
effect.

William Herbert Rollins developed leaded tube housings,
collimators , and other techniques to limit patient dose during
1896-1904.
- Also demonstrated that exposure of a pregnant guinea pig
resulted in killing of the fetus.
 PART I: RADIATION HAZARDS:

TYPE OF EFFECTS

CELL DEATH CELL TRANSFORMATION BOTH

DETERMINISTIC STOCHASTIC ANTENATAL

Somatic somatic & hereditary somatic and hereditary expressed
Clinically attributable in the exposed epidemiologically attributable in large in the foetus, in the live born or
individual populations descendants
 A. DETERMINISTIC EFFECTS
• Also called Threshold/non-
stochastic effect.
• Mechanism is cell killing.
• Existence of a dose
threshold value (below this
dose, the effect is not
observable)
• Severity of the effect
increases with dose
• A large number of cells are Radiation injury from an industrial source
involved.

9
B. STOCHASTIC EFFECTS

 Mechanism is cell modification.

 No threshold.

 Probability of the effect increases with dose.

 Generally occurs with a single cell.

 e.g. Cancer, genetic effects.

Biological Damage Process occurs in three distinct
modes/stages according to time frames:

1.Physical

2.Chemical

3.Biological
I. PHYSICAL STAGE- IONIZATION
 Radiation deposits energy.

 Excess energy removes an electron from an atom

(ionized)

 Very quick!~10`-12 seconds.

 Leads to deterministic effects.

II. CHEMICAL STAGE
 Ionized water can produce what are called free radicals.

 Radical can be very reactive chemically.

 The problem occurs when it reacts with DNA

 Ionization of DNA directly can also result in unwanted chemical

reactions.

 Still very quick! ~10`-7 s.

 Leads to both deterministic and stochastic effects.

III. Biological Stage

1. Cell Necrosis, Apoptosis (Deterministic effects)

2. DNA damage could lead too: - death during next division -

prevention of division - mutation (transformed- Stochastic
effects)

3. No effect(damage repaired by proof reading)

18
PART II: RADIATION PROTECTION

DEFINITION
 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is defined the radiation
protection as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure
to ionizing radiation and the means for achieving this".

 The IAEA also states "The accepted understanding of the term radiation
protection is restricted to protection of people”
EVALUATION

Rome Vernon Wagner, an x-ray tube manufacturer, had begun to carry a
photographic plate in his pocket and to develop the plate each evening to
determine if he had been exposed (1907). Pioneer for personal
monitoring.

Died of cancer in 1908.

Film badge came into effect from 1920.

The first tolerance dose or permissible exposure limit was equivalent to
about 0.2 rem per day.

Rolf Sievert also put forth a tolerance dose- 10% of the skin erythema dose.

2nd International congress of radiation in 1928 set up the
International X-ray and radium protection committee.


International X-ray and radium protection committee was
remodeled into The International Commission on Radiological
Protection (ICRP) and The International Commission on
Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU).


The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)
was the primary body created to assurance for the public
benefit, the science of radiological protection. It is a registered
charity, independent non-governmental organization.

It provides recommendations and guidance on protection
against the risks associated with ionizing radiation, from
artificial sources widely used in medicine, general
industry and nuclear enterprises, and from naturally
occurring sources


The first report Publication 1 (ICRP, 1959)--->Publication
26(ICRP, 1977)--->Publication 60(ICRP, 1991b,
international Basic Safety Standards)---> Publication
103(ICRP, 2007)
OTHER GOVERNING BODIES

IAEA (International Atomic Energy
Agency) establishes standards of safety
and provides for the application of the
standards


National commission on radiation
protection
and measurement(NCRP) is
recommendation
body of USA
ATOMIC ENERGY REGULATORY
BOARD(AERB)

Was constituted in 1983 by government
of India.


Carries out certain regulatory and
safety functions under the Atomic
Energy Act,1962 and Environment Protection Act, 1986,
Radiation Protection Rules 2004.


It is the recommendation, research and licensing body in
India.
ATOMIC ENERGY REGULATORY BOARD(AERB)


The Mission of the AERB is to ensure the use of ionising
radiation and
nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to the health
of people and the environment.
&


To protect people (workers, public and patients) from harmful
effects of ionising radiation without unduly limiting the use of
techniques that may cause radiation exposure.
THREE PRINCIPLES OF RADIATION PROTECTION

JUSTIFICATION:


OPTIMISATION:


DOSE LIMITATION: The total dose to any individual from
regulated sources in planned exposure situations other
than medical exposure of patients should not exceed the
appropriate limits specified by the Commission.
1. JUSTIFICATION


A practice involving exposure to radiation should produce
sufficient benefit to the exposed individual or to society
 In the case of patients, the diagnostic or therapeutic
benefit should outweigh the risk of detriment.

 Inthe occupational exposure, the radiation risk must be

added and compared with other risks in the workplace.

 Incases in which the individual receives no benefit, the

benefit to society must outweigh the risks.
Three level of justification :

1.The proper use of radiation in medicine is accepted. (Like doing

radiological investigation only when clinically indicated)

2. A specified procedure with specified objective is accepted.

3. The application of the prcedure to an individual patient

should be justified.
2.OPTIMISATION


Optimization of protection can be achieved by optimizing the procedure
to administer a radiation dose which is as low as reasonably achievable
alara principle so as to derive maximum diagnostic information with
minimum discomfort to the patient.
I
METHODS OF RADIATION
PROTECTION

Lead
Exposure distanc
barrier
time e
s
CARDINAL PRINCIPLE OF RADIATION
PROTECTION

The triad of radiation protection measures is “time-

distance-shielding”
 1. Keep the time of exposure to radiation as short as
possible.
 2. Maintain as large distance as possible between the
radiation and the exposed person.
 3. Insert shielding material between the radiation
source and the exposed person.
A.TIME
• The exposure time is related to radiation exposure and
exposure rate (exposure per unit time) as follows:
• Exposure = Exposure rate x Time

The algebraic expressions simply imply that if the exposure

time is kept short, then the resulting dose to the
individual is small.
B.DISTANCE
The second radiation
protection action
relates to the distance
between the source of
radiation and the
exposed individual.
C.SHIELDING

 Shielding implies that certain materials

(concrete, lead) will attenuate radiation
(reduce its intensity) when they are placed
between the source of radiation and the
exposed individual.
TYPES OF SHIELDING

1. X-ray tube shielding

2. Room shielding
3. Personnel shielding
4. Patient shielding
i.X-RAY TUBE SHIELDING (SOURCE SHIELDING)

 The X-ray tube housing is lined with thin sheets of lead

because X-rays produced in the tube are scattered in
all directions. This shielding is intended to protect both
patients and personnel from leakage radiation.
Manufacturers of X-ray devices are required to shield
the tube housing so as to limit the leakage radiation
exposure rate to < 0.1R/hr at 1 meter from the tube
anode.
 AERB recommends a maximum allowable leakage
radiation from tube housing not greater than 1
mGy/hour/100 cm.
ii.Room Shielding (Structural
Shielding)
 The control room of X-ray equipment is a secondary
protective barrier which has two important aspects:
 a. The walls and viewing window of the control booth, which
should have lead equivalents of 1.5 mm.
 b. The location of control booth, which should not be located
where the primary beam falls directly, and the radiation should
be scattered twice before entering the booth.
Unshielded openings in an X-ray room for ventilation
or natural light, are located above a height of 2 m.

Rooms housing diagnostic X-ray units and related

equipment are located as far away as feasible from
areas of high occupancy and general traffic,
maternity and paediatric wards.
CT ROOM SHIELDING

• The size of the CT room housing the gantry of the CT unit

as recommended by AERB should not be less than 25m2.

• It was proposed an additional thickness of 2.5mm of lead

or 6.4` of concrete to shield the front and rear reference
points, so as to reduce the absorbed dose to 1 mGy/year
iii.PERSONAL SHIELDING
Shielding of occupational workers can be achieved by
following methods:
 a. The distance between the personnel and the patient
should be maximized.
 b. Shielding apparel should be used as and when necessary
which comprise of lead aprons, eye glasses with side
shields, hand gloves and thyroid shields.
 Lead aprons are shielding apparel recommended for use by
radiation workers. These are classified as a secondary
barrier to the effects of ionizing radiation. These aprons
protect an individual only from secondary (scattered)
radiation, not the primary beam,
WHY LEAD BARRIERS?

- has a high atomic number (i.e. 82) & has high melting
point.
• For the photoelectric process, the mass absorption
coefficient increases with the cube of the atomic number
 0.25 mm lead thickness attenuates 66% of the beam at
75kVp
 1mm attenuates 99% of the beam at same kVp. •
 for general purpose radiography the minimum thickness
of lead equivalent in the protective apparel should be
0.5mm.)
OPERATIONAL SAFETY

 nts
DOSE EQUIVALENT

Equivalent dose may also be called radiation

protection unit as it takes into the account the
potential of the radiation to cause biological
damage. It is a measure of biological
effectiveness of radiation.
FFECTIVE DOSE EQUIVALENT

• takes into account the specific organs and areas of the body
that are exposed. Not all parts of the body and organs are
equally sensitive to the possible adverse effects of radiation,
such as cancer induction and mutations.

For the purpose of determining effective dose, the different

areas and organs have been assigned tissue weighting factor
(wT) values.

Effective Dose Equivalent (Sv) = Dose Equivalent (Sv) × wT

Purpose
It is calculated by multiplying the dose equivalent received by
each individual organ or tissue (DT) by an appropriate tissue
DOSE LIMITATIONS

In the 1930s, the concept of a tolerance dose was used, a
dose to which workers could be exposed continuously
without any evident deleterious acute effects such as
erythema of skin.

Early 1950s , emphasis shifted to late effects and
maximum permissible dose was designed to ensure that
probability of injury is so low that the risk would be easily
acceptable to the average person.

This was based on geneticist H.J Muller work who had
indicated that the reproductive cells were vulnerable to
even smallest doses of radiation.
PERMISSIBLE DOSE

The concept of tolerance dose indicated that there was a
level of radiation below which it was safe.

The concept of stochastic effects of radiation invalidated
this dogma.

Most scientists rejected that there was a threshold dose
below which exposure to radiation was harmless.

The concept of permissible dose therefore introduced.
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE DOSE
 “There is no safe level of exposure and there is no dose of radiation so
low that the risk of a malignancy is zero” — Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, father
of Health Physics


Maximum Permissible dose (MPD) is defined as that dose which in the
light of present knowledge is not expected to cause appreciable bodily
injury to the person at any point during his lifetime
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE DOSE

Advantages
- explicit acknowledgment that doses below
MPD have a risk of detrimental effects.
- acknowledged danger due to stochastic
effects of radiation.
- introduced the concept of acceptable risk-
probability of the radiation induced injury was to be kept low to be
easily acceptable to individual
DOSE LIMITS BY AERB

The limits on effective dose apply to the sum of effective
doses from external as well as internal sources. The limits
exclude the exposures due to natural background
radiation and medical exposures.

Calendar year shall be used for all prescribed dose limits
RADIATION DETECTION AND
MEASUREMENT
 The instruments used to detect radiation are referred to
as radiation detection devices.
 The radiation measurement is a time-integrated dose,
i.e., the dose summed over a period of time, usually
about 3 months. The dose is subsequently stated as an
estimate of the effective dose equivalent to the whole
body in mSv for the reporting period. Dosimeters used for
personnel monitoring have dose measurement limit of 0.1
- 0.2 mSv dose equivalent.
i. Film Badge Monitoring:
 These badges use small x-ray films sandwiched between several
filters to help detect radiation.

 The photographic effect, which refers to the ability of radiation

to blacken photographic films, is the basis of detectors that use
film.

 Wearing the badge -wear the badge on the collar region, because
the collar region including head, neck, and lens of the eyes are
unprotected. Wearing period- Each member of staff wears film
badge in working place for 4 weeks; at the end of a period of 4
weeks the film inside is changed. The exposed film is sent to
BARC. Useful for detecting radiation at or above 0.1 mSv
ii. Thermo luminescent dosimetry (TLD)
Monitoring:
 Property of certain materials to emit light when they are
stimulated by heat. • Materials such as lithium fluoride (LiF),
lithium borate (Li2B4O7), calcium fluoride (CaF2), and calcium
sulfate (CaSO4) have been used to make TLDs.

 When an LiF crystal is exposed to radiation, a few electrons

become trapped in higher energy levels. For these electrons to
return to their normal energy levels, the LiF crystal must be
heated. As the electrons return to their stable state, light is
emitted because of the energy difference between two orbital
levels. The amount of light emitted is measured (by a
photomultiplier tube) and it is proportional to the radiation dose.
 SUMMA

stochastic.
RY
Harmful effects of ionizing radiation are classified as stochastic and non

 The majority of the radiation dose received by the operator (provided the
primary beam is avoided) is due to scattered radiation from the patient.

 Use protective shields (lead apron, mounted shields/flaps, ceiling suspended

screens as applicable)

Stand in the correct place: opposite the X ray tube rather than near the X ray
tube.

 Always wear your personal radiation monitoring badge and use them in the
right manner.
 Thedosimetric quantity relevant to radiation protection is the
dose equivalent.

 Effective
dose equivalent limits for occupational and general
population has been recommended by the regulatory board of
that country.

 Thevalues quoted for radiation workers are such that the

hazards that the doses represent to health is small compared
with ordinary hazards of life.
THANK YOU!