Although the use of ⁶⁸ Ga has increased substantially in nuclear medicine over the last decade, there is limited information available on occupational exposure due to ⁶⁸ Ga. The purpose of this study is to determine the occupational extremity exposure during the preparation, dispensing and administration of ⁶⁸ Ga-labelled radiopharmaceuticals.
Workers in eight centres wore a ring dosimeter for all tasks involving ⁶⁸ Ga-labelled radiopharmaceuticals for a minimum of one month. Additionally, the fingertip dose was monitored in two centres and the hand with the highest ring dose during ⁶⁸ Ga procedures was also identified in one centre.
The median normalised ring dose for ⁶⁸ Ga procedures was found to be 0.25 mSv GBq ^-1 (range 0.01-3.34). The normalised ⁶⁸ Ga ring doses recorded in this study are similar to that found in the literature for ¹⁸ F. This study is consistent with previous findings that the highest extremity dose is found on the non-dominant hand. A limited sub study in two of the centres showed a median fingertip to base of the finger dose ratio of 4.3. Based on this median ratio, the extrapolated annual ⁶⁸ Ga fingertip dose for 94% of the workers monitored in this study would be below Category B dose limit (150 mSv) and no worker would exceed Category A dose limit (500 mSv).
When appropriate shielding and radiation protection practices are employed, the extremity dose due to ⁶⁸ Ga is comparable to that of ¹⁸ F and is expected to be well below the regulatory limits for the majority of workers.