GUIDELINES have been drawn up to prevent nurses being exposed to unacceptable
levels of radiation by patients. The guidelines come as another study suggests
low levels of radiation may pose unsuspected dangers.
Every year, thousands of people worldwide are given iodine-131 to treat
overactive thyroid glands and thyroid cancer. Their thyroid glands become
radioactive and pose a health risk to anyone who is close to them for long
periods, especially their partners
(New Scientist, 28 August 1999, p14).
If these patients need constant care, they also pose a risk to nurses. Claire
Greaves and Wendy Tindale at Sheffield’s Northern…
