Answer to Question #6658 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Radiation Workers — Pregnant Workers

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

I am currently nine-weeks pregnant and work as a secretary in the hospital. My desk is about two feet or less away from the wall and right behind this wall is the dental x-ray machine. The wall is just regular drywall, there is no lead barrier, and I am sitting very close to this wall. I have been told that I am at no risk because there is only a minimum of scattered radiation that can pass the wall but I am still concerned because there is no lead barrier and I sit so close. I would appreciate your input as I see myself a nervous wreck until my baby is born.

You raise an excellent question and it is always important to be concerned about your child, before and after she/he is born! The various states regulate the use of all x-ray-generating equipment. For the state you are in, there are requirements regarding amount of shielding (if any) necessary for the walls around an x-ray room. In the case of dental x ray it is very common that, based on calculations, additional lead shielding is not needed. These calculations can be extensive and take into account the direction the x-ray beam points, the distance from the x-ray machine to persons in adjacent areas, the amount of time the x-ray machine is emitting x rays, and the amount of time a person typically spends in an area adjacent to the x-ray room.

You can contact the radiation safety officer (RSO) for your facility and express your concern and he/she should be able to discuss with you the estimated amount of radiation your unborn child may receive during your pregnancy and provide you with information regarding the risk of that radiation exposure. The RSO should also be able to discuss the need (or lack of need) of lead shielding in the wall next to where you sit.

If discussion with the RSO still does not satisfy your concerns, ask if you can be issued a personnel dosimeter for your unborn child. This is a small measuring device that you wear at your waist, outside all clothing, that will measure the amount of radiation exposure your unborn child receives while you are at work. Your facility will have established radiation dose limits for the unborn child and will assist you in keeping any radiation exposure below those limits. Note that in order to receive a fetal dosimeter, it is possible that your facility may require you to declare your pregnancy in writing and that you receive some amount of radiation safety training.

Ken "Duke" Lovins, CHP

Answer posted on August 15, 2007. The information and material posted on this Web site is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Web site. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.