Radiation workers can protect their unborn child from overexposure by notifying the Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) of the pregnancy. OHC will request special monitoring through Vanderbilt Environmental Health and Safety. During your pregnancy, you will be monitored closely to keep your monthly exposure below the safe limits for pregnancy.
Fetal overexposure to radiation could result in an increased risk of childhood leukemia and cancer. The radiation dose to the fetus should not exceed 500 mrem for the entire gestation period or 50 mrem/month.
Pregnant radiation workers may complete and submit a HIPAA-compliant Declaration of Pregnancy survey to Occupational Health and VEHS.
Health care workers caring for patients receiving radioactive treatments should be trained by Environmental Health and Safety to make certain that all appropriate precautions are in place. With these precautions, radiation exposure to health care workers is negligible.
Additional Information:
Working with Radioactive Iodine
Keywords: radiation, radioactivity, Xray
