Choosing the Right Radiation Shielding Materials

The Importance of Radiation Protection Across Industries

Radiation Protection is an important field across a wide range of industries, from healthcare and medical imaging to nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, and non-destructive testing. ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) is a principle that strives to minimize the exposure of ionizing radiation to people and the environment while considering economics, technology and social factors. Considering all the factors, and the number of materials to choose from, consulting with a shielding materials expert is essential to finding the most effective solutions to your shielding needs.

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Choosing the Right Shielding Material

It all starts with the type of radiation that is present. Materials interact differently with different types of radiation. For example, tungsten is able to attenuate gamma radiation effectively, but when exposed to neutron radiation, secondary gamma rays can be produced. Materials that are strongest at attenuation gamma radiation are tungsten and lead, while high density concrete and borated polyethylene are better materials for stopping neutrons.

Factors to Consider for Radiation Shielding

Choosing the right material will allow you to save space and use less material. A shield of high-density concrete can take half the space of regular concrete with the same shielding properties. Flexibility of a material is also important to think about when considering the space requirements. A flexible material like metal impregnated polymers might be more suitable to shield a round object like a pipe, as it can be wrapped around tightly.

Environmental Conditions for Shielding Materials

The environmental conditions that the shielding is placed in is also important to consider. How well a material can withstand heat, if the shielding will be moved and potentially bumped and if the material must hold any structural load are all important factors in the environment that need to be considered. Shielding properties can change when put under stress or heated. Dents and damage to the material may also lessen the ability for a material to shield properly.

Costs of Radiation Shielding

Cost is an important to consider when selecting the appropriate shielding material for a job. Lead is a very effective and inexpensive shielding material compared to materials like tungsten and could work just as well for a lot of scenarios. Related to cost, another factor that needs to be considered is the ease of shipping, handling, and installation. Choosing between installing leaded drywall or sheet lead is one example where shipping and installation need to be considered.

Radiation Shielding Safety & Protection

Safety is important in selecting the right shielding solutions. Leaded glass for example comes in several options including safety glass. Clear Leaded Acrylic is also a viable option to making durable clear shielding that is shatter resistant. Exposed lead may not be permitted in some scenarios due to the toxicity of lead, so polymers mixed with bismuth, tungsten or iron may be a better, non-toxic alternative.

Find the Right Radiation Shielding Solution With MarShield

When protecting people and the environment from radiation, knowing what materials are available is key to finding the right shielding solution. A lot of factors need to be considered when choosing the right material, which is why a material expert becomes an important part of any radiation shielding design team. In the coming series of articles, we will go through the materials mentioned above and talk about the strength, weaknesses, and applications of different shielding materials. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about different types and application of materials, the MarShield website is a great resource on radiation safety materials or you can contact MarShield to speak to a shielding materials expert directly if you have any questions.

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Pain physicians usually use C-arm fluoroscopy for the treatment of patients. The C-arm fluoroscope is an important device for pain interventions. However, pain physicians can be exposed to radiation during use of C-arm fluoroscopy. According to a previous study in Korea, most pain physicians were worried about the adverse biological effects of radiation exposure [ 1 ]. However not many pain physicians had knowledge of radiation safety [ 1 , 2 ]. Furthermore, not many pain physicians used radiation protective devices and radiation protective methods [ 1 , 2 ]. Even though almost all pain physicians had used thyroid protectors and aprons, the use of lead glasses and gloves was low. For reducing radiation exposure, there are 3 principals: time, distance, and shielding.

Radiation exposure can be accumulated over the time of exposure. In C-arm fluoroscopy guided interventions, the time spent checking the C-arm fluoroscopy is related to the radiation exposure. The longer the exposure time, the more radiation exposure to the pain physician. Therefore, it is important to reduce the usage time of C-arm fluoroscopy [ 2 , 3 ]. For reducing the usage time, the physician has to improve his skill in intervention and the radiographer has to check the X-ray at the correct location, and at the right moment without blurred image.

A greater distance from the radiation source can reduce radiation exposure. The amount of radiation exposure is not inversely proportional to the distance from the radiation source, but is inversely proportional to the square of the distance [ 2 , 4 ]. This means that double the distance from the radiation source can reduce the radiation exposure not to 1/2 but to 1/4. Therefore, maintaining a greater distance from the X-ray generator is a very effective method for radiation safety. In a previous study of radiographers, two steps behind the mobile support structure can decrease the exposure of the radiographer by about 80% [ 4 ]. In another study, being only 20 cm farther from the center of the X-ray field can decrease the radiation exposure by about 73% [ 5 ].

3. Shielding

There are many shielding devices such as caps, lead glasses, thyroid protectors, aprons, radiation reducing gloves, and so on, for radiation safety during C-arm fluoroscopy-guided interventions. Even though the protective effect is enough for radiation safety, no use of the devices cannot protect the physician from radiation. In Korea, the use rate of the apron and thyroid protector by pain physicians is over 80% [1,2,6]. However, the use rate of lead glasses was about 40%, and the use rate of radiation reducing gloves was lower than 35% [1]. The radiation shielding devices are expensive, and the use of shielding devices can be uncomfortable. However, when a physician uses these devices, they can be protected from radiation exposure.

Reducing the time of radiation exposure, a greater distance from radiation sources, and the use of shielding devices for radiation protection are important. Even if pain physicians have to use these three principles, I want to emphasize the importance of distance from the radiation source, because the longer distance from the radiation source may be more effective than reducing time or the use of shielding devices. If a pain physician decreases the time of radiation exposure in half, his radiation exposure will be halved. If a pain physician uses radiation protective devices with double the lead equivalent thickness, his radiation exposure will also be halved. However, if a pain physician stands double the distance from a radiation source, his radiation exposure will reduce to 1/4. Physicians do not pay money for a longer distance from the radiation source. Therefore, all physicians can use the principle of greater distance easily.

Do you want to reduce your radiation exposure? Please remember the 3 principles; time, distance, and shielding.

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