Radiation Safety Guide: General Definitions and Radiation Protection Rules in Nuclear Medicine Applications

Abstract

Ionizing radiation which is widely used in the field of medicine and industry, and in scientific studies leaves some or all of its energy to the tissue as it passes through living tissue. It causes known possible harmful effects on living organisms, from low exposure doses to high doses. These are stochastic effects (cancer, mutations) and deterministic effects which are recently named as tissue reactions (such as dermatitis, cataracts). It is important to keep the radiation exposure of the radiation workers and the public as low as possible and to keep within the acceptable dose limits in order to avoid unknown harmful effects. Radiation risks to health are assessed by radiation absorbed dose, dose equivalent and effective doses. In routine daily practices, as low as reasonably achievable dose and as low as reasonably practible dose principles, and also, occupational and public permissible dose limits defined by international and national atomic energy agencies should be complied. Radiation protection rules should be followed to reduce an exposure dose as much as possible while working in the radiation areas. Radiation accidents, transportation of radioactive materials and radioactive waste disposal are important special issues for the protection of environmental health, and compliance with radiation protection rules are necessary. With the development of new targeted radiopharmaceuticals, radionuclide treatments are frequently applied in nuclear medicine clinics, especially in the treatment of malignant diseases. Therefore, radiation protection is an important issue especially for the hospital workers performing procedures to the patients who die shortly after administration of high-dose radionuclide therapy. In this guide, the terms related to radiation will be presented at first, and then, the national and international radiation protection rules in radiation works will be given.