All You Need to Know About Radioprotective Garments

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All You Need to Know About Radio Protective
Garments
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Radio protective garments may come in all shapes
and sizes, but there are two that you really need
to concern yourself with lead protective
garments and lead-alternative protective
garments. One often needs to use a combination of
radiation protection garments such as aprons,
vests, protective eyewear and kilts to protect
radiation workers, so its even more important to
understand the differences between the two. And
considering all the lead poisoning cases coming
up, it always helps to have some additional
information about lead-free shielding at hand.
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What are Lead Protective Garments? Lead aprons
are conventionally made using lead powder which
was bonded in thick rubber to allow the apron to
be long-lasting and comfortable. The radiation
protection offered by these lead garments was
0.50mm lead which would transmit about 2 of a
fluoroscopic x-ray beam. Sounds great until you
realize that the garments are actually made of
lead!!
What are Lead-Alternative Protective
Garments? Lead-alternative protective garments,
on the other hand, offer a similar level of
radiation protection without forcing you to deal
with the use of lead and make yourself succumb to
the dangers of lead poisoning.
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Advantages of Using Lead-Alternative Protective
Garments So what is it that makes these
lead-free shielding garments so beneficial? The
main advantage of using these garments is that
they are non-hazardous and environment-friendly.
Hospitals replacing lead protective garments with
these alternatives have also seen cost savings as
disposing of worn out lead protective garments is
a major disadvantage. On the other hand, these
alternatives can simply be disposed via the
conventional waste stream. Moreover, the garments
are lighter and still offer the same protection.
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Can I Determine the Lead Equivalence? Since
lead-alternative protective garments dont use
lead, determining lead equivalence might be a
problem. Since alternative materials absorb
radiation effectively over a narrow range, a
number of different metals need to be used in a
matrix in order to spread out the range as much
as possible. However, this also implies that
lead-alternative protective garments tend to
depend on x-ray energy and therefore the term
lead-equivalence might not accurately describe
its protective value.
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So Can I Go Lead-Free? If one is thinking about
switching to a lead-free shielding garment, it is
essential to consult a medical physicist or
radiation safety officer before making the
switch. These professionals can give you an EDE1
radiation monitor which uses 2 dosimeters in
order to evaluate the protective value of the new
garment so that one can directly evaluate the
protective value of lead-alternative protective
garments with regards to the work environment.
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Mailing Shipping Address Ecomass
Technologies4101 Parkstone Heights Dr.Suite
380Austin, Texas  78746-7482USA Technical Sales
and Support info_at_ecomass.com
www.ecomass.com