According to The Press of Atlantic City, Thyroid cancer patients who swallow radioactive iodine to shrink there tumors are unwittingly exposing the public to radiation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission eased requirements that had patients remain in the hospital for a few days after swallowing doses of the radioactive iodine.
About 40,000 people a year develop Thyroid cancer. Treatments can include by swallowing radioactive iodine, or iodine-131. It concentrates in the thyroid, but small amounts are excreted through urine, saliva, and sweat.
Patients have been known to contaminate hotel rooms and set off alarms on public transportation, a congressional investigation has found.They have also come into close contact with vulnerable people, including pregnant women and children, and the household trash from their homes has triggered radiation detectors in landfills.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., blames weak NRC regulations, ineffective oversight of those who administer the medical treatments, and the absence of clear guidance to patients and to the physicians. There is a meeting scheduled to examine the issue further.
Rather than putting people in harms way the patient should follow their physicians instructions on how to minimize exposure to others. Most of the radiation is gone in about a week. Staying home until the week is over would eliminate causing harm to innocent people.
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