skip to main content
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A solution for 40 K interference from K internal to the human body, in an underground high sensitivity whole body counter at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, NM, USA

Abstract

The objective of the present work is to find a solution for the interference arising from 1461 keV photons emitted by 40K in natural K internal to the human body in the detection of 241Am and 210Pb activities at the level of 37 mBq (1 pCi). The response of a broad energy Ge (BEGe) reference crystal to 1461 keV photons was simulated using GEANT4 code. Simulations were performed for a point source without and with shielding, as well as for a Bottle Manikin Absorption (BOMAB) phantom in the shielded whole-body counting chamber (WBC). The WBC facility is located underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, NM, USA. The simulation results were discussed with regards to the interference in detecting the 241Am and 210Pb at the level of 37 mBq (1 pCi). The specific conclusion is that the interference counts from 40K activity at the natural levels present in the human body in typical clinical settings were found to be greater than the 210Pb and 241Am signal counts from 37 mBq (1 pCi), when a 38.1 mm diameter, 25.4 mm thick BEGe reference crystal was used. Our solution for minimizing the interference to the desired precision at the specified levelsmore » was found by sacrificing the broad energy response of the counting system.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. New Mexico State Univ., Carlsbad, NM (United States). Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center (CEMRC)
  2. The NORM Group, Guelph, ON (Canada)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
New Mexico State Univ., Carlsbad, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
OSTI Identifier:
1509477
Grant/Contract Number:  
[EM0002423]
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences
Additional Journal Information:
[ Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 4]; Journal ID: ISSN 1687-8507
Publisher:
Egyptian Society of Radiation Sciences and Applications
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.; Interdisciplinary application; BOMAB phantom; Gamma-ray spectroscopy; Ge detector; Radiation shielding; Whole-body counter; 40K gamma-ray interference

Citation Formats

Pillalamarri, I., and Jagam, P. A solution for 40 K interference from K internal to the human body, in an underground high sensitivity whole body counter at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, NM, USA. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1016/j.jrras.2017.07.004.
Copy to clipboard
Pillalamarri, I., & Jagam, P. A solution for 40 K interference from K internal to the human body, in an underground high sensitivity whole body counter at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, NM, USA. United States. doi:10.1016/j.jrras.2017.07.004.
Copy to clipboard
Pillalamarri, I., and Jagam, P. Sun . "A solution for 40 K interference from K internal to the human body, in an underground high sensitivity whole body counter at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, NM, USA". United States. doi:10.1016/j.jrras.2017.07.004. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1509477.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1509477,
title = {A solution for 40 K interference from K internal to the human body, in an underground high sensitivity whole body counter at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, NM, USA},
author = {Pillalamarri, I. and Jagam, P.},
abstractNote = {The objective of the present work is to find a solution for the interference arising from 1461 keV photons emitted by 40K in natural K internal to the human body in the detection of 241Am and 210Pb activities at the level of 37 mBq (1 pCi). The response of a broad energy Ge (BEGe) reference crystal to 1461 keV photons was simulated using GEANT4 code. Simulations were performed for a point source without and with shielding, as well as for a Bottle Manikin Absorption (BOMAB) phantom in the shielded whole-body counting chamber (WBC). The WBC facility is located underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, NM, USA. The simulation results were discussed with regards to the interference in detecting the 241Am and 210Pb at the level of 37 mBq (1 pCi). The specific conclusion is that the interference counts from 40K activity at the natural levels present in the human body in typical clinical settings were found to be greater than the 210Pb and 241Am signal counts from 37 mBq (1 pCi), when a 38.1 mm diameter, 25.4 mm thick BEGe reference crystal was used. Our solution for minimizing the interference to the desired precision at the specified levels was found by sacrificing the broad energy response of the counting system.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jrras.2017.07.004},
journal = {Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences},
number = [4],
volume = [10],
place = {United States},
year = {2017},
month = {10}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
DOI:  10.1016/j.jrras.2017.07.004
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 1 work
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1. Fig. 1.: Simulated response of a reference Ge crystal to the 1461 keV photonflux emitted by a 40K point source, (a) without a chamber, (b) with a chamber.
All figures and tables (5 total)
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

A comparative study of body potassium content in males and females at Kalpakkam (India)
journal, July 2006

  • Brindha, J. Thulasi; Rajaram, S.; Kannan, V.
  • Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 123, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncl081

Body Potassium Content and Radiation Dose from 40K to the Slovak Population
journal, January 1998

Body K and 40K in Chinese Subjects Measured With a Whole-body Counter
journal, January 1989

An Evaluation of Recent Lung Counting Technology
journal, July 2000

Body potassium content and 40K radiation dose to Iranian subjects
journal, May 2003

A simple calibration of a whole-body counter for the measurement of total body potassium in humans
journal, October 1992

  • Abdel-Wahab, M. S.; Youssef, S. K.; Aly, A. M.
  • International Journal of Radiation Applications and Instrumentation. Part A. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, Vol. 43, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1016/0883-2889(92)90208-V

The activity of one gram of potassium
journal, February 1997

  • Samat, Supian Bin; Green, Stuart; Beddoe, Alun H.
  • Physics in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 42, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1088/0031-9155/42/2/012

Estimated potassium content in Hanford workers
journal, July 2004

Limits for qualitative detection and quantitative determination. Application to radiochemistry
journal, March 1968

The reduction of limits of detection in in vivo counting of low-energy photon emitters by optimising the shape and size of detectors
journal, July 2003

Body Potassium Content and Radiation Dose from 40K for the Urals Population (Russia)
journal, April 2016

Geant4—a simulation toolkit
journal, July 2003

  • Agostinelli, S.; Allison, J.; Amako, K.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 506, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1016/S0168-9002(03)01368-8
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Figures / Tables found in this record:

    Fig. 1.(p. 3)figure
    Fig. 2.(p. 4)figure
    Fig. 3.(p. 4)figure
    Table 1(p. 5)table
    Table 2(p. 6)table
      [ × clear filter / sort ]
      Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

      Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: