As the nation's industrial complex grows, one of its attendant evils—environmental pollution—grows apace. Perhaps no segment of this complex grows more rapidly at present than the atomic energy industry. Responsible officials are gradually becoming aware of the potential for pollution of this new giant. The problem is complicated by security requirements and by virtue of the inability to sense ...

In September 1987 an accident occurred with a cesium chloride (CsCl) teletherapy source taken from a cancer therapy institute in Goiânia, Brazil. Misuse of the abandoned source caused widespread contamination of radioactive material (about 50 TBq of Cs) in the town of Goiânia. Decontamination of affected areas did lead to about 3,500 m of solid radioactive wastes, which were disposed in two nea...

Air filter samples collected at Sodankylä (6722’N, 2639’E) were analyzed for determining concentrations of Cs, Sr and total beta in surface air at northern Finland during 1963. Activity concentrations of Cs, Sr and total beta varied seasonally being highest in spring and summer, due to enhanced transportation of aerosols containing radioactive particles from stratosphere to troposphere during w...

The synthesis of urocanic acid by histidine ammonia-lyase in guinea-pig epidermis was investigated in various ways. 1. In epidermal homogenates the enzyme obeys Michaelis-Menten kinetics and shows marked dependence of its activity of pH, such that below pH 6 it is inactive. 2. Part-thickness skin samples cultured with radioactive histidine do not accumulate detectable radioactive urocanic acid ...

The performance of high-precision mass spectrometry radioactive isotopes can often be hindered by large amounts contamination, including molecular species, stemming from the production beam. In this paper, we report on development Collision-Induced Dissociation (CID) as a means background reduction for experiments at TRIUMF's Ion Trap Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN). This study was conducted...

The aim of this study was to evaluate decontamination (absorption) efficacy of a preparation called Mineral Cationic Carrier (MCC) against skin contamination with sulphur mustard in vivo. MCC is a synthetic preparation with known ion exchange, absorption efficiency, and bioactive potential. CBA mice were applied increasing doses of sulphur mustard on their skin and MCC was administered immediat...

HYPOTHESIS Application of skin sealant prior to incision reduces microbial contamination of the wound. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, multicenter clinical trial. SETTING Six teaching hospitals. PATIENTS A total of 177 adult patients undergoing elective open inguinal hernia repair were randomized to either standard skin preparation with 10% povidone-iodine or skin preparation followed by ...

Lipogenesis in vitro from acetate-1-(14)C was studied in human preputial skin and abdominal skin. Radioactive lipids were separated by column chromatography on Florisil and by thin-layer chromatography on silica gel. Radioactivity was incorporated chiefly into the triglyceride, sterol, and polar lipid fractions, while lesser amounts of (14)C were found in the hydrocarbon, wax, diglyceride, mono...

Food contamination caused by radioisotopes released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is of great public concern. The contamination risk for food items should be estimated depending on the characteristics and geographic environments of each item. However, evaluating current and future risk for food items is generally difficult because of small sample sizes, high detection limits, ...

The detonation of an improvised nuclear device or a radioactive dispersal device (RDD) would lead to widespread radioactive contamination, including the potential contamination of individuals. If such an event were to happen, it would be desirable to have various means of rapidly scanning individuals to determine if they have either external or internal contamination and to be able to determine...