Using VARSKIN+v1.2 to estimate dose from direct skin contamination with radionuclides 223Ra, 212Pb and 225Ac; considerations for Nuclear Medicine staff and associated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Abstract

Objective To calculate depth-weighted doses for 223Ra, 212Pb and 225Ac for the skin sites of trunk, arms/legs, face, wrist, back of hand, fingertip, back and side of fingers using VARSKIN+v1.2. Methods Published depth distribution histograms of the basal cells were used with dose averaging in VARSKIN+v1.2. A density correction factor was applied for the 1 g/cc within VARSKIN. Results were compared to the regulatory 70 µm depth and to average depth values for the skin sites. Results 223Ra has no alpha component at the regulatory 70 µm. This dose is exceeded by the depth-weighted dose rates for all sites (except the fingertip) with factors ×74 (back of finger) to x3600 (trunk). 212Pb and 225Ac have alpha contributions at 70 µm. . For 212Pb, this dose value is greater by over ×2 than the depth-weighted dose rate for the wrist, back of hand, and finger sites, and underestimates dose rates for the other sites. For 225Ac, the 70µm dose rate is exceeded by the depth-weighted dose rates for the trunk, face, arms/legs by factors of ×4–10. Using fixed depth values, the depth-weighted dose rates are larger for all sites except the fingertip. The skin dose is also calculated for biological half-lives of 1, 3 and 6 h. Using the depth-weighted dose rates and a 3 h biological half-life, the activity for 500 mSv is in the range 9–177 Bq for the trunk, face, arms/legs, wrist and hand for all three radionuclides. Conclusion For alpha-emitting radionuclides a depth-weighted calculation gives more representative dose values. The very low activity values for 500 mSv skin dose to be exceeded have implications for appropriate staff PPE and training.