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KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Human beings are exposed daily to background radiation directly or indirectly from cosmic rays, mobile phones, televisions, building materials, agricultural products and even from their own bodies.
Radiation is basically energy that is emitted as electromagnetic waves or moving subatomic particles from a source that travels through space and that can penetrate various materials.
While the health risks posed by exposure to certain types of radiation are well known, medical science has long demonstrated the benefits of radiation in the field of diagnostic imaging, such as radiography, computed tomography ( CT), mammography, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine.
The application of radiation is particularly useful for detecting and treating cancer, as diagnostic tools allow medical experts to determine the exact location of tumors while using treatments such as radiation therapy to kill cancer cells.
A pertinent issue that arises here is occupational radiation exposure and its effects on the health of interventional medical workers, and to what extent they are protected considering the fact that they see hundreds of patients every day who have to undergo X-rays , CT scans, radiation therapy, or fluoroscopic procedures. for diagnostic and treatment purposes.
According to Ampang Hospital Radiology Department Radiation Protection Officer Mohammad Azwin Abdul Karim, one of the main challenges the hospital faces in radiation safety is creating a protected environment for personnel handling radiation equipment.
Three basic principles
Radiation safety, he said, refers to protecting workers from the harmful effects of radiation by taking steps to reduce unnecessary exposure.
“What we are concerned about is the scattered radiation that can arise from the rays that penetrate the patient’s body, to which the personnel operating the radiation machine are exposed,” he said.
Azwin said the radiation protection system is generally governed by three basic principles: justification, optimization of protection, and dose limit.
He said that any practice that could result in increased radiation exposure must be carefully planned according to these three basic principles.
“Optimizing protection should be given the highest priority by ensuring that radiation exposure is as low as reasonably possible,” he said.
Reducing the period of time spent near the radiation source, increasing the distance from the radiation source, and wearing the proper protective equipment can indirectly reduce the radiation dose to which workers are exposed, he added.
Impact of radiation on personnel
Although medical workers are not directly exposed to radiation, its effects are known to have a short- and long-term impact on their health and can affect their quality of life and even that of their children.
Azwin said that the biological effects of radiation can be classified as deterministic and stochastic effects.
Deterministic effects are evident when an individual is exposed to radiation that exceeds the threshold. The higher the dose, the worse the effects suffered by the victim, including cataracts, skin lesions and hair loss.
Stochastic effects can probably appear regardless of the amount of radiation dose received by an individual and can lead to cancer and genetic damage.
Azwin said many cases of these effects have been reported in medical journals such as TCTMD, an online resource for interventional cardiology, which in a report published in July 2017 presented evidence that routine radiation exposure in the cardiac catheterization laboratory it can put interventional cardiologists at increased risk for cataracts.
In view of its harmful effects, improvements have been made in terms of radiation protection, including the provision of personal protective equipment made of lead, which is a good material for radiation shielding, to workers who work with radiation.
“These days, the protective equipment used (by radiation workers) is becoming more sophisticated. All radiation personnel must now wear protective gear such as an apron, thyroid shield, lead cap, and lead goggles. They were designed to protect their bodies from radiation exposure.
“But they must be used correctly to be effective,” he said.
He said that under Regulation 8 of the 2010 Atomic Energy Licensing (Basic Safety Radiation Protection) Regulation, the effective radiation dose limit for a worker will be 20 millisieverts (mSv) in a calendar year.
Azwin added that it is also mandatory for staff to undergo periodic medical checks for any radiation effects due to workplace exposure.
Rooms with views … to security
Medical imaging rooms in hospitals where radiation equipment is installed must also meet strict guidelines and standards.
Azwin said that the building structure of the room or space where radiation services are provided in a hospital or health center must meet the minimum standards required to minimize the incidence of scattered radiation.
In rooms where CT and angiography services are offered, the thickness of the protective shield covering the walls and doors should be equal to 2 mm of lead. The dimensions of the lead glass shield are 100x50cm, with a thickness equivalent to lead of 2mm.
For the room where mammography services are provided, the thickness of the protective shield of the walls and the door should be equal to 1mm of lead.
As for the personnel, in order to control their level of radiation exposure, it is mandatory that they use personal radiation control devices such as the radiophotoluminescence dosimeter, the optical stimulated luminescence dosimeter and the thermoluminescence dosimeter.
Meanwhile, the director general of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Dr. Siti A’iasah Hashim, said that it is crucial that they use these monitoring devices due to the characteristics of the radiated particles, as they are invisible, odorless and tasteless.
“Cumulative readings are taken once a month to find out your level of radiation exposure during that month,” he said.
Safety precautions
Siti A’iasah said in Malaysia that the 1984 Atomic Energy Licensing Act establishes strict regulation and control of atomic energy.
The law also requires that workers who may be exposed to radiation use approved personnel monitoring devices, keep records of the dose and type of radiation the worker may be exposed to, install or use monitoring devices in the workplace to record the quantity. radiation present and undergo periodic medical examinations.
Malaysia’s standards for radiation protection include MS838 (2018) – Radiation Protection for Medical Diagnostic X-rays, and MS 2228 (2009) – Structural Shielding Design for Medical X-ray Imaging Facilities.
“In Malaysia, our radiation safety practices are at a high level and that is why we rarely hear about accidents involving radiation,” Siti A’iasah said, adding that authorities, including the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, provide training. on radiation safety regularly. – Bernama
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