Abstract
Ionising radiation is widely used in medicine, industry and education. Most people are familiar with medical applications for diagnosis and treatment of disease. Industrial uses include: the measurement and control of various processes - e.g. liquid levels in bottling and canning plants and the thickness and density of a wide range of materials, the examination of metallic structures for defects and the sterilisation of medical products. Educational applications range from demonstrating the basic laws of radiation physics to sophisticated studies of chemical and biological processes using chemical compounds which have been labelled with suitable radioisotopes. Furthermore many pieces of laboratory equipment, for example X-ray diffractometers and X-ray fluorescence analyses, incorporate a source of radiation. The safety record of the use of radiation, when compared with many other industrial processes, is generally good. However, serious accidents can and have occurred. While most accidents involve small numbers of people, a few have had widespread consequences. These include accidents where large numbers of patients undergoing radiotherapy received the incorrect dose and where the inadvertent disposal and scrapping of radiation sources lead to widespread contamination of persons, property and the environment. This paper will discuss the hazards associated with particular applications and outline the
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Hone, C
[1]
- Radiological Protection Inst. of Ireland (Ireland)
Citation Formats
Hone, C.
Radiation hazards in medicine, industry and education.
Ireland: N. p.,
1996.
Web.
Hone, C.
Radiation hazards in medicine, industry and education.
Ireland.
Hone, C.
1996.
"Radiation hazards in medicine, industry and education."
Ireland.
@misc{etde_483498,
title = {Radiation hazards in medicine, industry and education}
author = {Hone, C}
abstractNote = {Ionising radiation is widely used in medicine, industry and education. Most people are familiar with medical applications for diagnosis and treatment of disease. Industrial uses include: the measurement and control of various processes - e.g. liquid levels in bottling and canning plants and the thickness and density of a wide range of materials, the examination of metallic structures for defects and the sterilisation of medical products. Educational applications range from demonstrating the basic laws of radiation physics to sophisticated studies of chemical and biological processes using chemical compounds which have been labelled with suitable radioisotopes. Furthermore many pieces of laboratory equipment, for example X-ray diffractometers and X-ray fluorescence analyses, incorporate a source of radiation. The safety record of the use of radiation, when compared with many other industrial processes, is generally good. However, serious accidents can and have occurred. While most accidents involve small numbers of people, a few have had widespread consequences. These include accidents where large numbers of patients undergoing radiotherapy received the incorrect dose and where the inadvertent disposal and scrapping of radiation sources lead to widespread contamination of persons, property and the environment. This paper will discuss the hazards associated with particular applications and outline the causative factors identified. These include, equipment faults, simple but serious errors in dose calculations and loss or incorrect disposal of radioactive sources. The lessons that have, or should have been learned, from the past events are also considered. The paper describes the regulatory system in Ireland for controlling the use of radiation. The description shows how regulations are established within the framework of the European Commission Directives on radiation protection. (Abstract Truncated)}
place = {Ireland}
year = {1996}
month = {Oct}
}
title = {Radiation hazards in medicine, industry and education}
author = {Hone, C}
abstractNote = {Ionising radiation is widely used in medicine, industry and education. Most people are familiar with medical applications for diagnosis and treatment of disease. Industrial uses include: the measurement and control of various processes - e.g. liquid levels in bottling and canning plants and the thickness and density of a wide range of materials, the examination of metallic structures for defects and the sterilisation of medical products. Educational applications range from demonstrating the basic laws of radiation physics to sophisticated studies of chemical and biological processes using chemical compounds which have been labelled with suitable radioisotopes. Furthermore many pieces of laboratory equipment, for example X-ray diffractometers and X-ray fluorescence analyses, incorporate a source of radiation. The safety record of the use of radiation, when compared with many other industrial processes, is generally good. However, serious accidents can and have occurred. While most accidents involve small numbers of people, a few have had widespread consequences. These include accidents where large numbers of patients undergoing radiotherapy received the incorrect dose and where the inadvertent disposal and scrapping of radiation sources lead to widespread contamination of persons, property and the environment. This paper will discuss the hazards associated with particular applications and outline the causative factors identified. These include, equipment faults, simple but serious errors in dose calculations and loss or incorrect disposal of radioactive sources. The lessons that have, or should have been learned, from the past events are also considered. The paper describes the regulatory system in Ireland for controlling the use of radiation. The description shows how regulations are established within the framework of the European Commission Directives on radiation protection. (Abstract Truncated)}
place = {Ireland}
year = {1996}
month = {Oct}
}