Comparison of the protection performance in a composite shield and a lead standard shield in terms of biological effects in nuclear medicine

Introduction: In the nuclear medicine departments, staff exposure to radiation is inevitable during patient positioning and radiopharmaceutical preparation. There is controversy regarding the use of usual lead aprons with respect to penetrating gamma rays used in nuclear medicine departments as well as production of characteristic lead x-ray from aprons. Methods: This research compares the shielding properties of poly vinyl alcohol reinforced by lead acetate, with lead shield based on biological damage to blood cells from the Technetium-99m source. All computations have been carried out by using the WinXcom program. In addition, the alkaline comet assay has been used to estimate DNA damage at the single cell level. Statistical comparisons were analyzed by using the T-test. Results: Calculated value of μm is 0.7616 (cm2/ g), HVL is 7.4 mm and density is 1.224 g/cm3. A significant difference in reducing the amount of DNA damage by 0.5mm sheet of lead was not found. Conclusion: Considering the effects of distance and time on lead acetate composite, results showed that increasing the distance has a significant impact on harm reduction. Even at a distance of 100 cm from the source at all exposure times, the damage is much reduced, compared to the groups with and without a lead shield.