Release of Animals Containing Radioactive Material Following Veterinary Procedures

Full text: Over the last few decades, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has authorized the release of animals containing radioactive material following veterinary procedures when the exposure to members of the public from the animal is expected to be well below public dose limits, which are 1 mSv and 20 μSv any one hour. It has been the NRC's practice to allow veterinarians to give animal caregivers instructions to ensure these public limits are met. Historically, the most common procedures the NRC has authorized have involved cats who are treated with iodine-131, which are able to be released within a few days following treatment. To release cats, caregivers are given instructions of short duration (a few days to a week) and the instructions are not the primary mechanism to ensure public dose limits are met. More recently, the NRC has been requested to authorize several new veterinary procedures for pets, including use of tin-117m colloid to treat osteoarthritis in dogs. Due to the activity used during the treatment, the long half life of tin-117m, and the retention of the colloid, there is a higher potential that individuals who have daily interactions with a dog will exceed the public dose limit following the dog's release. In this instance, instructions would need to be the primary method to ensure public dose limits are met. This presentation will discuss the NRC's past practices in releasing animals containing radioactive material following veterinary procedures and highlight recent risk-informed initiatives to update these practices to evaluate new treatments. (author)