Radiation Protection Dosimetry Advance Access originally published online on May 7, 2009
Radiation Protection Dosimetry 2009 134(2):113-121; doi:10.1093/rpd/ncp080
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Air contamination analysis during emergency medical treatment
1 Department of Radiation Dosimetry, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1, Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan
2 Tokyo Nuclear Service Co., Ltd., 7-2-7, Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005, Japan
* Corresponding author: yj_yamad{at}nirs.go.jp
Received January 9, 2009, amended April 1, 2009, accepted April 13, 2009
After radiological emergencies, patients contaminated with radioactivity are taken to radiation emergency hospitals for treatment. Numerical simulations using the computer software ‘Flow Designer®’ were made in order to evaluate indoor air contamination caused by the breathing out of contaminated air. The National Institute of Radiological Sciences facility was used for the numerical evaluation. Results indicate that the dispersion of contaminated air depends on the characteristics of the contaminants, and that the dispersion range was limited and localised. Only medical staff standing in a special position near the patient was exposed to almost un-diluted contaminated air. Highly contaminated air was evacuated with a local exhaust pump system. Room air quality was monitored using a continuous air sampling system, but it was found that the sampling point was not representative for the purpose of radiation protection. From the air-flow analysis, some problems that affect radiological safety were revealed and valuable information and measures for preventing secondary contamination were determined.