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Radiation-related consulting and services from Integrated Environmental Management, Inc.

To read Integrated Environmental Management, Inc.'s (IEM's) response to one of the following questions, simply press the red question number at the left of each question.  When you have read the response, press the "Read Some Answers" category on the left or use your browser's "back" button to return to this list.  Since these 50 questions are recycled with new ones, starting from the bottom and working our way up, you may wish to scan through the list periodically to see what new ones have been posted.  You may also want to press your "re-load" button to be sure you are seeing the most current information.

Question 50:  "Hello. Lately I have read about the natural occurring radiation present in bananas and other foods. Although I have read that there is no risk associated with eating them, I am still a little apprehensive after reading about this. I was just wondering if you could clear up something. Can the natural occurring radiation found in bananas and other foods contaminate anything else it comes in contact with? In other words, can you or your children have radiation on your hands after handling bananas or other foods containing natural occurring radiation? My fear is that I picture it contaminating other things it comes into contact with. I appreciate your assistance with this topic. Thank you very much. [I just submitted a question a few seconds ago on this topic but also forgot to include this. If someone were to step on banana or banana peel, could they spread radiation around on their shoes? I am not sure about the strength / dose present in bananas, other foods. Thanks so much. Your web site is very informative and helpful.]"

Question 49:  "We keep hearing that granite/quartz countertops emit radiation. I recognize that there is probably a wide range of radiation emission depending on where the granite was mined. Having said that, have there been any studies made to compare the radiation levels from stone countertops to a typical chest x-ray, for instance? Is radiation from granite/quartz countertops something that I should be concerned about, or is it minor compared to other ambient sources?"

Question 48:  "Dear sir, Our neighboring town house has been purchased by x ray and MRI imaging center. I was wondering how safe is it to live next door? We are separated by a 6 inch brick wall."

Question 47:   "Recently, Dr. Oz had a show on the fastest growing cancer in women, thyroid cancer. It was a very interesting program and he mentioned that the increase could possibly be related to the use of dental x-rays and mammogram. He demonstrated that on the apron the dentist puts on you for your dental x-rays there is a little flap that can be lifted up and wrapped around your neck. Many dentists don't bother to use it. Also, there is something called a "thyroid guard" for use during mammogram. By coincidence, I had my yearly mammogram yesterday. I felt a little silly, but I asked about the guard and sure enough, the technician had one in a drawer. I asked why it wasn't routinely used. Answer: "I don't know. You have to ask for it." Well, if I hadn't seen the show, how would I have known to ask?"

Question 46:  "What is the maximal amount of beta radioactivity to be considered an exempt package?"

Question 45:  "I came across your site and looked at the exempt quantities table. The numbers in your table does not match those listed in 49CFR. An example is Cu64 listed as 100 uCi at your site while the 49CFR lists it at 2.7 uCi. Would appreciate some clarification."

Question 44:  "Any idea what this might be? [Photos provided.] Was found in a load of electric motors being scrapped. It's about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. Dose rates about .25 mr/hr @ 12 inches."

Question 43:   "Hi, I recently had a barium swallow exam done and did not realize how dangerous it could be with respect to exposure to my thyroid or other organs. When the exam started they did one xray standing (I recall) and then did the rest lying on a table. I recall there was a physician viewing the exam on a monitor and now I realized that they were giving me straight doses of steady beam? i think radiation during the exam to view the swallowing. I am so concerned about the high risk of radiation that this exam exposed me to. i know they did pictures from both sides of my neck; I had to turn and they did more radiation pictures. I am so sorry that I did not ask questions. I did express my concern for radiation, but they said it was nothing. Can you please help me understand the radiation exposure from this exam. I worry terribly. (I recently had an mri of the cervical done and they report said "possible thyroid nodule" seen.) I appreciate your assistance with any information you can provide."

Question 42:  "Dear Sir/Madam: Recently with have acquired 15 Radiation Isotope Identifying Devices (RIIDs) for the Uzbek Customs Officials and now we are facing a problem of bringing calibration kits (each kit contains 1 micro curie of Co60 and 1 micro curie of Cs137) in to the country. Without the calibration kits these devices are not of much use. But bringing any cargo marked as UN2910 or rad source on the sipping document is a problem, even though it's stated as a ‘diplomatic cargo'. That is why my question is the following: does the level of 1 kit (1 micro curie of Co60 and 1 micro curie of Cs137) meet the definition of radioactive material at all (i.e., radioactivity less than the concentration shown in 49 CFR Table 173.436). And if we ship it one kit at a time, shall we still need UN labels and Radiation material statement on the shipping document? I would appreciate your help on this. Thank you."

Question 41:  "How would I calculate the activity of 300 micro grams of co60 in mCi? Thanks for your time."

Question 40:  "Hello, Could you help me calculate pci/g to dpm/100cm2? Thanks."

Question 39:  "First, THANK YOU SO MUCH for giving informative insight on our concerns! I am a 28 yr old female with no children. I recently had a car accident & is suffering back pain. My dr sent me to have x-rays taken. The tech did 2-Tspine, 3-neck (cspine), 1-Lspine, 3-right shoulder, 2- right knee. When the tech did the Lspine x-ray she didn't put the shield on me because she said it would interfere with the image. I am very worried about the amount of radiation exposure I had in just 1 sitting. I would like to have children. Have I been exposed to too much radiation at 1 time to cause cancer or damaging effects to my cells? Will it affect my ovaries enough to cause damage in fertility? And if not, how long should I wait to get pregnant so that my cells are repaired to not cause any DNA damage? Please HELP, I'm very depressed and worried!"

Question 38:  "Dear Colleagues, Very useful site - many thanks! I would like to see some sample calculations using the absorbed dose constants as I am unsure of how it relates to the gamma radiation dose constant. Also, I notice that UV radiation is listed under "non-ionising radiation" sources - this would only apply to the longest-wavelength or UVA radiation as UVB and UVC are ionising, hence their use for sterilising instruments and water supplies."

Question 37:  We have used a local clay successfully to treat brown recluse spider bites. We have had the clay measured with a Geiger counter by a friend and it seems to be active. How can we get a better assessment of the radio activity of the clay to know how active it is and to determine how safe it is relative to its radio activity?

Question 36:  "I have a question about the various lights they use in the dentists office and the potential dangers to my eyes. I have been going in for a series of treatments to have some cavities filled. The dentist usually gives me a pair of sunglasses to wear to protect my eyes, but yesterday he only told me to SHUT my eyes and to keep them closed through the entire procedure (which I did). Then something scary happened about 4 or 5 separate times: I could feel/see a bright orange color/light come over my eyes (which I saw through my eyelids) similar to how you'd be able to see the sun or any other light when you looked at it even if your eyes are closed). I don't know if this could have been from the blue curing light, or else a more likely possibility would be that the dentist was wearing what he called an "LED light loupe" on his head with a circular orange plastic thing which seemed to cover the actual light itself. Maybe I was seeing this light.orange thing as he leaned over me? My question is could my eyes have been damaged (since I wasn't wearing sunglasses) by this light? Thank you so much, I am concerned about eye cancer. I eagerly await your informed response."

Question 35:  "Hello, I worked at a nuclear plant for about 4 months and received around 100 mrem in this time. I currently do not work there anymore.... It has been about a month and I want to try and have a baby, is there any way this could present an issue with my plans? And how long should I wait after exposure to get pregnant? And is there a chance this could have affected my eggs? Did I ruin my chances of having a healthy baby by taking this job??"

Question 34:  "Greetings, My wife and I are PA residents (Wayne County), but we are currently living in Tokyo. The current crisis has caused us to think a lot about radiation, especially considering the fracking process that is being used to drill wells in our PA neighborhood. We were wondering if there was any source we could consult that would tell us what the radiation levels are like in our PA neighborhood. Would you know of something like that? I've been researching the PA DEP, DoE, etc and can't find anything. Your business sounds very interesting, and it is very cool that it is "woman owned." We wish you the best of luck with the business."

Question 33:  "Hello, could you please confirm that the beep of the dental xray machine means the actual exposure time? i recently had an xray which was continous beep for about 7 seconds is that normal? also on the machine timer it read 250 in red?"

Question 32:  "Hi thank you for your forum and ability to get questions answered about a very fearful subject to many people. I am scared now due to an odd dental xray experience. I chipped my front tooth so went in to the dentist to get it repaired. He wanted to x ray my two front teeth to make sure any damage was only cosmetic. He uses digital xrays. So he layed my chair back about 3/4 of the way, then pulled the x ray tube up over WHAT APPEARED TO BE MY FOREHEAD AND EYES instead of right in front of the two front teeth, then he took the xray. It was very unsettling. I asked him why the x ray tube was so far away from my mouth, and I told him any time Ive had xrays in the past they put the thing right against the spot being x rayed practically, but this time the thing seemed too high and out of place or too far away. So I told him i was conconcered my eyes and forehead got radiation but he says no, it was positioned right, it wasn't too far away and all that. What are your impressions? Did I get eye and forehead radiation? Thank you!"

Question 31:  "Hi, Thank you in advance for any information you can provide. from approximately beginning 1978 to end of 1979 almost two years i worked as a unit armorer in the US Army. I had approximately 120 rifle sites made of promethium-147 according to this site http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=123&t=289771 the rifle sites contained 1mc each. i worked in a room approximately 12'x15' concrete block construction, don't recall any duct work. I removed and replaced all the sites with plain iron sites sometime in 1979 I think. Question, do I need to worry about this? I have been having some health problems. thank you."

Question 30:  "Hello, During my last dental exam I had my entire mouth x-rayed with a "digital" dental x-ray for my six month check up. Afterwards I noticed the lead shield "bib" hanging on a hook on the wall, which I was not offered to wear during the x-rays. Now I am extremely distraught and worried about what my body was exposed to. Every where I have researched my concerns says EVERY patient should be given a lead shield EVERY time."

Question 29:  "Hello, Thank you SO MUCH for your time. Please help! I am a 35 year old female. I had a lumbar spine and sacrum x ray done where 8 pictures were taken and I haven't been able to stop worrying since. I had the x ray done because I was experiencing a sore tailbone without any known injury and my dr. recommended it as we were ending our visit, almost as an after thought. I asked isn't the radiation a concern and she said na. I went back and forth with myselft because I didn't want to get it, but my soreness would come and go and I was also worried about that. I finally got the x ray and I instantly regretted it and was so worried about the effects of the radiation on my reproductive organs, blood, bone marrow, and tyroid. I am very worried because none of my organs were covered. I know that I have follicular cysts on my ovaries and I'm worried they may turn into cancer. I know that the lumber spine plus the sacrum x rays have the same amount of radiation that we receive naturally in about a half of year. I'm worried if this will greatly increase my risk to cancer getting a 1/2 of years worth of radiation in one sitting. In addition, after the xray my sore tailbone went away for about 2 weeks, but now it is back. Nothing abnormal showed up on the x ray.... frustraiting any suggestions on that too! Thank you."

Question 28:  "Hi, I just tried a new dentist's office which I like very much but the office layout seemed like it could expose you to other people's x rays. There are three dental chairs/individual "room" in this office side by side. Each "room" / chair has its own x ray machine. I put "room" in quotes because they aren't really rooms at all since they do not have individual doors or ceilings. THere's just a wall separating each "room" (and the walls of each room don't even reach the ceiling.) So there is really nothing enclosed. It's more like an open-air office with partitions separating each dental chair and x ray room, that's it. They also use digital x rays. Is this safe when I am getting my teeth worked on in one room and there are x rays being taken right next to me, or if I'm walking down the hall and someone's getting an x ray as I pass by? Thank you,"

Question 27:  "We manufacture a radioiodine decontamination agent that has been very effective commercially now for 30 years in binding and containing isotopes of iodine, preventing sublimation and facilitating waste water disposal. The usual decontamination agents rely on chelators and alkaline solutions to remove contamination which only serves to drive radioiodine into the gaseous state. How similar is F-18 to radioiodine and what happens when F-18 is subjected to the chelating/alkaline decontamination reagents? Should we pursue an investigation of the use of our product, I-Bind (reflexindustriesinc.com) for this radioisotope? How would you recommend we proceed? I trained and got certification as a NM(ASCP) back in the early 1970's but I have lost touch with the Nuclear Medicine discipline. Any guidance you could provide would be most appreciated as my wife and I now operate a (wait for it) Ma and Pa business now in our senior years."

Question 26:  "Dear IEM, I am a novelist (All the Stars Came Out That Night, Dutton 2005) and am researching radiation. Could you possibly answer a couple of questions? 1. How are radioactive materials protected in universities? something like a safe? Or a locked room? 2. How are they safely disposed of? Who comes around to pick them up and where do they take the used materials? Thanks."

Question 25:  "Should we be concerned about possible radioactity from products coming from Japan or products from other countries that may have parts in them that originated in Japan? What percentage of products coming into the United States are actually scanned for radioactivity?"

Question 24:  "Hello, I see different half-life time frame given on the web - some say it's 8.04 days and some say it's 8.02 and others just say it's "about" 8 days. What is the accurate half-life of I-131? Thank you very much."

Question 23:  "Hi IEM, Thank you for this service. Question: I do not work in the nuclear industry, but was required to review about 15 dusty boxes of documents (containing rad surveys, dosimeter badges, and other HP documents) from the 1960s that came from a former nuclear research facility near Karthus, Pennsylvania, often referred to as the Quehanna nuclear facility. The facility had a small reactor that was used for research, but the primary use of the facility was for the processing of Strontium-90 fuel in hot cells for the development of Space Nuclear Auxiliary Generators. The Strontium 90 project was terminated by 1970, but many years later it was determined that significant quantities of Strontium-90 had been leaching out of the hot cells, and that the hot cells and many parts of the facility were significantly contaminated with Strontium 90. I am concerned about having reviewed these dusty boxes on the basis that they could have been contaminated with Strontium 90. Are my worries reasonable? In other words, is there a likelihood that those boxes might be contaminated with Strontium-90 to the extent that it might impact human health? Thank you so much for your time -- this is such a wonderful service."

Question 22:  "Thank you in advance for this great service. I read many of the questions on your site but I did not see one close to mine and I doubt there would be one like mine. I ordered an intra oral camera from a company in Tokyo. The camera will be used daily on patients in their mouths except when in the pocket of my dental lab coat all day, every day. Should I have any concern over possible radiation contamination of the product? Should I cancel the order or take it to a testing laboratory to check to see if it has radioactivity? I do have some connections as my original field of study was physics and I live close to Argonne National Laboratory. I have friends who work there and probably would be able to link me up with someone with a scintillation counter. The camera was on back order and has not shipped yet, so I don't think it has been manufactured yet. I have a choice of many other products from other manufacturers. Do you have any advice? Thank you."

Question 21:  "What is the very best way to measure your countertops to see if they have any radioactivity? Also the silverware and dishes stored in the cupboard beneath the countertop? Thank you."

Question 20:  "I am worried so much about something because I do not have a lot of money so I recycle bottles and cans. I used a new recycling establishment today where you will put 1 item (bottle or can) on a conveyor belt, one item (bottle or can) at a time. Almost like a suitcase x ray machine at the airport. This can and bottle conveyor belt for recycling had a very warm light (I could feel the heat and saw the light on my hand) each time I reached in to insert a bottle or can. Oh my god is this radiation on my hand? Have a cooked myself or caused cancer damage? Thank you so much for the information."

Question 19:  "I am a little worried my daughter had too many xrays in a short period of time. She is only 14. Last week she had her braces removed and as part of that procedure had regular x rays to see how her teeth looked and a panoramic to see about her wisdom teeth. Then today, just about 10 days later, she was complaining of shoulder pain so her GP took 3 shoulder x rays. Is this too much, too close together? Thank you for what I know will be an informative response!"

Question 18:  "Hello All. Been a regular user of your great website for a couple years now. I got a question about the absorbed dose constants listed on your site. How were the ADCs you listed calculated/determined? I checked out the reference (Kocher DOE/TIC-11026)) on the bottom of the page but quickly realized it was more than a little beyond my ability to understand. Specifically, I am interested in calculating the dose delivered by 131I taken up by cells expressing the sodium iodide symporter (NIS). I know the specific activity and will use the mean life in my calculation (see below). Was the ADC for 131I calculated by you or someone at IEM or did you look up the value? If so, can you tell me where to look up these values. Dose = mean life (hr)*ADC*specific activity (uCi/g tissue). Thanks for any information you may be able to pass on to me. And thanks for putting together so much helpful information in one website. Cheers."

Question 17:  "I was just on your web site and noticed that there is a typo in one of the peak energies for 152Eu. Instead of .12780 MeV, it should be .12178 MeV."

Question 16:  "I was reviewing your website and in the process came across the Common Radiation Exposure page. I am a health physics student and was wondering where you referenced this material from. I would appreciate if someone would be able to answer this question."

Question 15:  "Can you recommend a consultant to evaluate radiation levels from a "cell phone tower" located several hundred meters from a residential neighborhood? Thank you."

Question 14:  "I have a question about Cs137 button sources as far Tennessee is concerned. We have some 1uCi, 5uCi, and 8uCi button sources that are considered exempt quantities as listed in Schedule RHS 8-3 of the State of Tennessee regulations. My question is what is the limit in uCi per DOT for shipping Cs137 sources as NON-RAD? I understand that just because they are exempt per RHS 8-3 of the State of Tennessee regulations doesn't make them NON-RAD per DOT."

Question 13:   "Dear IEM: I have measured the output of a neutron generator with a standard REM ball and a PRESCILLA and got dose rate numbers that differ by a factor of three. These same devices agree when measuring a Californium neutron spectrum. What is the best way to measure the accurate dose from 14 MeV neutrons?"

Question 12:  "Regarding this statement on your website: "Opthalmic glass (eye dose from eyepieces) - 300 millirem" Are you referring to the eyepeice of an instrument, e.g., microscope? or to eyeglasses? If the latter, what kind of glass exactly? Is there a reference for this statement? Thank you in advance."

Question 11:  "Have you heard of silverware containing radium? I've received a call from an individual having some silverware with a stamp on the back of it indicating "Solid Radium Silver," and the number 96. My research has produced nothing. Please advise."

Question 10:  "Hello, I work on the second floor of an old two story house that has been converted into an office building. A dentist office takes up the entire first floor and just began occupying the room next door to my office; in this room they installed a dental x-ray machine. I am pretty sure that I am not 6 feet away from the machine, given that it is against the wall closest to my desk. My coworkers and I share what I assume used to be the master bedroom of this house and are worried about this machine. And I am certain they did not put anything on the walls surrounding the room; this is an old house with its old walls intact. One coworker is pregnant and I am worried for cancer (given its connection to my family history)-- enough said. This morning the dentist entered our room (office) and said they would be doing a scan and that "we should be fine where we were, just don't go near the wall where the machine is on the other side of for a minute." Those words do not inspire confidence in the dental staff or in their new machine. Please let me know if this is something I should be worried about. Thank you."

Question 9: "I'm interested in switching from a monitoring device that has to be processed each quarter to get a report to a device that is not mailed in at all. It has a USB connector that can be plugged into a computer. Readings are then obtained after logging in to the web site. Example: www.instadose.com. I just want to make sure this type of device is legit."

Question 8:  "Hello. Can you recommend a supplier of sealed radioactive sources that are vacuum-rated? I'm trying to find a gamma source that emits >5e6 photons/sec (~>100 micoCi) in the 0.1-0.7 keV bandpass. Fe-55 would work, but I am having trouble finding someone who sells it sealed for work inside a vacuum (10-5 Torr). Thanks."

Question 7:  "Suppose a person performs the duties required by 10 CFR 20.1906 for receipt of packages only. That is, this person receives, inspects and surveys incoming radioactive material packages, but does not perform any of the other functions described in 49 CFR such as packaging, labeling or marking. Does that individual fall into the category of one who requires the HAZMAT training as required by 49 CFR 172.704?"

Question 6:  "Hello, First of all, I would like to applaud you for a very nice and informative site. I own a community / information site myself and I know how much work, time, and effort goes into putting together a site like this. I just recently had a dentist visit and they took a full set of x-rays of my mouth with approximately 8 to 12 x-rays. For each x-ray, the technician would go outside of the room, turn a switch on, the machine would beep once, and the technician would turn the switch off. However, there were a minimum of 2 times where the machine would beep 3 times instead of once. The technician would proceed to turn the switch off and would turn it on again until the machine beeps once and would then turn it off. And there was one time after the machine beeped 3 times, I heard the technician rapidly turn the switch off on off on. It's logical to think the 3 beeps means the x-ray did not go as expected but I was wondering if you can shed some more light on this? Was it the machine's fault or was it carelessness on behalf of the technician whom may or may not be certified. Does 3 beeps mean I was exposed to an x-ray and there was an error or the x-ray was not even taken? I would like to file a complaint to a state board if the technician was being careless because that was at least 2 mistakes. Also, in my research, I have just read that there's been a recent study linking dental x-rays to cancer. Someone is 5.4 times more likely to develop cancer if they had 10 or more dental x-rays vs someone that never had any. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1283393/Ten-dental-X-rays-raise-cancer-risk.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7802609/Dental-X-ray-link-to-thyroid-cancer.html Thank you for any info and help!

Question 5:  "Hello I was just wondering about laser radiation. Your web site says lasers are a form non-ionizing radiation, does that mean they are not harmful to humans. Can they pass though the skill and into our cells in the body or does the skin stop the energy. Looking forward to your answer."

Question 4:  "Dear CHP: I am asking a question related to Question 43. There you discuss mid-range photon energies of Cs-137 and Co-60. I have looked up the nuclide tables and find decay energies that do not match the numbers you provided. Could you please explain the relationship between mid-range photon energy and decay energy. Specifically I would like to know how to arrive at the mid-range photon energy from a typical Nuclide table such as this one (http://nucleardata.nuclear.lu.se/NuclearData/toi/nuclide.asp?iZA=550137). Also could you also explain why you chose to use the mid-range photon energies instead of the decay energies in your explanation of radiation fields? Thanks."

Question 3:  "What is the proper way to wash clothing from nuclear plant workers? Would regular washing remove a fuel flea?"

Question 2:  "Hello. I have a question regarding gamma ray dose constants, which I was wondering if you could help me with. On your website (http://www.iem-inc.com/toolgam.html), the dose constant for Tc-99m is listed as 0.06122 rem / hour at one meter from a one curie source. The reference is given as "partially extracted from ORNL/RSIC-45, "Specific Gamma-Ray Dose Constants for Nuclides Important to Dosimetry and Radiological Assessment", May, 1982". From the ORNL document, the dose constant for Tc-99m is listed as 3.317 E -5 mSv / h / MBq at 1 m. I calculate 0.06122 rem/h/Ci to be 0.6122 mSv /h / Ci, or 1.655 E -5 mSv / h / MBq, about half that of the ORNL value. Could you please explain this discrepancy? Thank you."

Question 1:  "I had some questions regarding the half-life of low activity minerals namely K40. The half-life is said to be 1.2 billion years. On your page your page you had said that we have been unable to speed up or slow down the radioactive decay of a given element and because of this the half-life is constant throughout time. The example I've seen used to best explain the efficiency of K40 dating is with lava flows. The assertion is that when the sediment is molten all the gas (argon)escapes, and when it cools the naturally occurring potassium in the sediment is only left and thereby effectively starting the clock at zero. Now for the questions; if we are unable to effectively change the radioactive decay of a given mineral(K40), does this mean it cannot be done? Due to the nature of radioactive decay in low activity samples how exactly can it be said that the rate of decay is unchanging given the unobservable time it takes to happen? I can understand that there is a formula that is based on observable facts about any given sample that would determine its half-life. What I do not understand is that idea that we can induce facts based on what we have observed in significantly less than 1% of the samples existance in some cases. Are there no assumptions in this science? I'm not a student of science so maybe I've misinterpeted some ideas. I am however extremely intrigued by all the fascinating information on your page."

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