WASTE-MANAGEMENT-INDUSTRY
HAZARDOUS-WASTE-CLEANUP
IONIZING-RADIATION

ESTIMATED DOSE TO A FLOOD CLEAN-UP WORKER

Occupational exposure to gamma rays by a female flood clean up worker in March 1995 was described. An individual who had been cleaning out a flood damaged storage shed in Napa County, California, encountered ten radium (7440144) needles in small lead containers. These were promptly placed in a briefcase and brought to the county hazardous waste station. A worker at the county hazardous waste station then put the briefcase in a 55 gallon drum, and radioactive measurements were made. In order to estimate the radiation dose received by the worker, a whole body count was performed, and dose rate measurements were calculated from inside and outside the drum. An integrated dose was also measured relative to the time of exposure for the worker, which occurred when she placed the briefcase in the drum and while she worked near the drum. The estimated and reconstructed dose received by the subject ranged from 1.25 to 1.75 milliseiverts. The author concludes that radiation exposure to the clean up worker was negligible.

Health Physics, 70(1):109-110, 1996. (1 reference)

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