[Measurement of incorporation in family members of radioiodine therapy patients after therapy of benign thyroid diseases].

AIM

Patients exhale I-131 after radioiodine therapy. In this study we quantify the amount of radioactivity and resulting thyroid doses found in people living in close contact to patients treated with I-131 after their release from a therapy ward.

METHODS

For 31 relatives of 25 patients treated with I-131 the incorporation was monitored using the thyroid probe of a whole body counter. These values are used for a determination of thyroid doses.

RESULTS

11 of the 31 monitored persons had a thyroid activity of less than the minimal detectable activity of 13 Bq. The mean value of the remaining 20 people was 104 Bq in the thyroid resulting in a mean thyroid dose of 0.2 mSv (Maximum: 2 mSv).

CONCLUSION

The intake of I-131 for persons in close contact to patients after dismissal from a therapy ward is low. In no case an effective dose exceeding 1 mSv was observed.