Document 0q8evrznjrk3wL9M703Gxggex

MWBfl-flnt93?8 of) V=3 fcl V--u & zo t=4 Industrial Hygiene Digest May, I *6.3 475 Acute Accidental Superficial X-Ray Burns; An Interim Report an II Case*. R. D. Sweet. Brit, j. Dermatol. 4. 394 (Nov. 1964). . A oit x-ry unit wee incorrectly operated over a 6-day period with the result that 11 patients who should have received treatment with greni rays generated at 10 kv. received, in stead, x-rays generated at SO kv. through a 0.05 mm. aluminum Ulterior a time appropriate lor the delivery on the skin surface o 100 r. at 10 kv. The locus-skin distance (FSD)in 10 ol the cases was 14.2 cm. One patient who was irradiated at a F5D ol 40 cm., received a surface dose of 5.850 r. The reactions resulting in this patient were similar to those in the others. All patients had some form at chronic eczema, mostly of the hands and fingers. About ) weeks after irradiation all treated areas were almost identically deVaatated. Between the bth and Bth days the deepening erythema became tender -to the touch and within a few hours spontaneously painful. The pain rapidly increased in severity during the next .2 or 3 days and it cpuld not he modified by local applications including hydrocortisone, until the surface broke down. Swelling commenced soon after the area became acutely painful. Rings worn on the fingers had to be cut off. The first signs of healing were detected at the edges of the burnt areas by about the 21st day. Fingers and palms continued to heal at a steady race, but not tbs backs of hands; here grafting pf small arses will probably become necessary. The complete lack of the .pro duction of granulation tissue by the burnt dermis resulted in progressive slewing in the rate of healing the farther new epidermis bad to grow from the edge of the burnt area. The consider able leukocytosis seemed dependent on dermai inflammation rather than on .epidermal destruc tion. Treatment with large doses of prednisolone may have les aened pain and helped maintain function. -- Cond. from J. Am.'Med. Assn. References it Reviews 476 Radioactive Luminous Material Hazard. R. D. Clubb and T. J. litis. Bur. Ships J. 14. 16 (Jan. .1963). (Bureau of Ships Journal*), AVAILABLE FROM; U.S. Navy Department, Superintendent of Documents, Washington 45, D.C, PRICE; 31. 75. Direct radiation of radioactive luminescent materiel is usually minor, but radioactive particles can be a eeriouo radiation hazard if taken into the body. Lee* than 1/100th of the strontium-90 in one type of market represents the lifetime body limit for this isotope, Damaged or deteriorated luminescent markers or equipment'can contaminate local areas with radioactive particles which can circulate in the sir or be picked up on the hands or clothing of personnel. W henever airborne radioactive particles are present, ventilation filters and electrostatic pre cipitators will collect and concentrate the particles and become radiological basards themselves. Radium markers, even those without damage, can cause a build-up of airborne particles in the closed atmosphere of submarines through release of the gaseous decay product, radon. Safety precautions are discussed. -- APCA Abate. 477 The Ingestion of Radium 226 in Food and Water in Great Britain, R. C, Turner. Brit, J. Cancer JJ>, 200-208 (June 1962). : ~" The author has made an elaborate study of how radium-226 gets into the body. It does so mainly by the food ingested and to .a much lesser extent toy the water drunk. The moan values, as measued by alpha-ray activity, are given as micromicrocurles per 100 g. weight; oatmeal and breakfast cereals bead the list. The author investigated these contents among different social groups--professional. Intermediate Occupations, .skilled, partly skilled and unskilled occupations. Throughout the entire range of these groups there was little variation, a result attributable to the large contribution of the total food taken by the Ugh activity cereal foods. Turning to the radium content of water the author examined water from widely differing sources all over the country. The Ughest natural activity is shown in the water supplies of .Cornwall, and otherwise it is found tbst the alpha-activity is broadly related to the mineral content .of the water. Surveying the data as a whole it was found that tbs mean intake of radium-226 from food it remarkably constant at a value between 2 and 3 micromicrocurles per day per person, the cereal type foods contributing 60 - 70%, The mean daily intake from water represents only 5- 6% of this; the one exception being Cornwall. -- Bull. Hyg. * Address not in current List of Periodicals. 23. 03121229 FOX004895