| Accident scenario |
| Two men employed by a private
firm engaged in industrial radiography were exposed to the 22 Ci source
of an 192-Ir camera for about 3.5 hr. The exposure occurred when, for reasons
not understood, the ball at the end of the winder cable hose became positioned
behind the source assembly, instead of in the socket. This apparently occurred
shortly after work commenced, leaving the source unshielded. When the films
were found to be blackened, Shortly after return to headquarters, it was
realized that overexposure had occurred. It was estimated that the senior
operator (RD) worked for about 200 min at distances of 1-30 ft from the
exposed source, and was exposed for a further 15 min at a fixed distance
of 6 ft during vehicular transport of the isotope camera. Employee JI was
believed to have assisted at "safe limits" from the source, and
his exposure should therefore have been limited to 15 min at 6 ft during
transport of the unit. |
| Early clinical findings |
| Blood samples were examined
at 3, 8, 15 and 2l days after exposure for haemoglobin, haematocrit, platelets,
total and differential white cell counts. Values were within normal limits
for both subjects except for rather low lymphocyte counts (range 560-1500/cm3)
in subject JI. He had overt influenza on the 8th day; no pre-irradiation
record was available for comparison. |
| Chromosomal dosimetry |
| Heparinised blood samples, obtained
by venepuncture, were in transit at ambient temperature, about 20oC, for
5hr before culture inoculation. Samples were obtained from each subject
at 8 and 2 1 days after the exposure |
| Reference |
| Brown JK and McNeill JR: Biological dosimetry in an industrial radiography accident. Health Phys., 21: 519-522, 1971 |
| Chromosome aberration analysis |