A colleague is returning from Tokyo next week. Some colleagues are concerned.
Answer
A radioactive contamination can be external or internal.
External: the skin is scanned and cleaned until there is no longer any danger of transferring these contaminating radioactive substances to another individual.
In case of internal contamination, urine and stool are tested. Only contact with these secretions and substances could contaminate, but they are kept separately until the radioactivity has expired. Gloves are worn when handling these excretions.
The current controls carried out ensure that a person from Tokyo cannot pose a danger to his surrounding fellow citizens.
LTB
Answered by
Prof.dr.medicus leopold de Thibault de Boesinghe
occupational medicine radiation protection hospital hygiene radiotherapy oncology nuclear medicine medical ethics and deontology
http://www.ugent.be
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