I have had several doses of TC-99M over the years. Having worked in Naval nuclear power I was able to have some fun walking by friskers at control points and setting them off. My first shot in 1987 the tech walked right up next to me carrying a cylinder that said 7mcuries of TC-99M, showing no concern holding it right in front of himself he put it in a syringe and injected me. after the procedure was over and I was leaving I saw an ANPDR/27 with an external speaker on a desk and I asked if I could use it. He gave me a funny look and said I guess so nobody has ever asked before. I turned it on and placed it on contact with where he injected my arm it was 8mr/hr. As soon as the tech heard the clicks from the speaker he backed up about 5 feet and said my god you are radioactive. Thought you might get a laugh out of this
A few years ago I also had Technetium injected and once I got home I found that even from another room I was still making my detector "sing". I knew it wasn't a problem but it was interesting to see.
I drove by an older woman In a Camry in traffic and radiacode was screaming 20 feet away separated by two cars. You never know what interesting things you're going to find with a radiacode.
when i was on pet ct i mean after it i took phone opened camera and put it on my leg there where white dots . recently i bought geiger module for arduino cause i got scared over old glow in dark clock even though it was very unlikely to be radium one , whish i had it sooner since i dont have sources to test it .
This isn’t exactly radiation but I was the patient in a MRI when the fire alarm in the unit went off, somewhat recently. Yes the machine stopped, we evacuated and the fire department arrived. The issue is/was…I was moved only about 40 ft away, even though it was through two doors( this is in a hospital MRI ) and I could still smell whatever it was that was burning. Most likely electronics’ components, but magnetic energy is simply a different form of energy right? How is it measured, what is the bio cellular impact and what is inside an MRI that can burn in the first place? Online is not helpful so far but aside from knowing the detectors you also seem to know the energy, aka, physics, and biology reasonably well. Thanks for what you are doing. (I think the not moving into clean air is a missed step in the evacuation process and I am attempting to learn the details, not cause any problems, just fix the situation for the future)
USCBP agents have been wearing neutron detectors since not long after 9/11. I was in the Dallas office when a guy came in who'd had a dye procedure a few hours ago. Every agent in the building's neutron detector went off while the guy was still in the parking lot.
I carry Radiacode102 daily. And last year it got tripped 4-5 times on our commute and around the place we have dinner. I always had though something dodgy was going on. But now that youve mentioned it, I realize there is pretty big hospital around that place, and thats just people being treated .
@@fredharvey2720 Daily - nothing really. My main use is in mountain biking and hiking, mapping the trails since some of them are in the radioactive regions. But it is small enough to carry it daily. Also its a good piece of mind to have if you live in Europe with the Ukrainian war and all.
My father had prostate cancer a few years ago, he was offered two treatments: One was to have a radioactive pellet into him. Or to have surgery. He chose the surgery, because he was told he couldn't play with his grandchildren if he had the radiation treatment.
Last year, I stopped by to visit my mother on mother's day and I had recently purchased a Better Geiger S-1 and turned it on to show it to her and it was clicking way more than I expected it to but the dose rate wasn't significantly elevated so it was picking up a lot of low energy gamma... turns out the source was my mother who had some cardiac imaging done that involved a Tc-99m injection. 8 half lives had passed since her procedure and the S-1 was still reading over 1000 CPM - background reads around 60 CPM. My mother was radiant on mother's day 😂 Since then, I've purchased a Radiacode 102 which is quite a bit more sensitive and pairs with my phone. I have encountered several radioactive people in the wild like this.
I KEEP DRIVING BY THEM, on Seattle I-5. Radiacode goes crazy. At first I thought it must be a spill, but when I drove through again, ...nothing. At first I detected two cars in two days. But now it's more like one per month. (Once it even was someone on a city bus.) Also, while sitting in the parking lot outside the bookstore, the Radiacode briefly clicked at about 3X background. An elderly man had just walked directly in front of my car. But that was NOTHIN' compared to people in cars on the interstate, way above background, even when 50ft away inside a car.
Seattle has a very busy hospital, so I would imagine they would have a bunch of nuclear medicine procedures on a daily basis. Its amazing how far this radiation can be detected.
I know of a student who came home (Vancouver Canada) from visiting Ukraine. During her visit the Chernobyl disaster cooked off. When she went through the detectors at the TRIUMF accelerator complex at UBC (she was a physics major) several weeks later, the detectors went nuts. Apparently her sneakers were highly radioactive, as she had put them outside, on the hotel room balcony while she slept.
TRIUMF sends stuff to UBC Hospital's nuclear medicine floor and my radiacode was going nuts down there. Cool video exists of the pneumatic delivery system
Yep, I've had Tc-99m 4 times in the past 2 years, for bone scans (checking for cancer spread). Also, tc-99m is a pure gamma emitter, no beta. It decays directly into normal tc-99. That does decay via beta, but with a much longer half-life (211,000 years). The body will eliminate all of it before any measurable amount of tc-99 will decay. I was detecting about 75 uSv/hr coming off of me after my last scan.
It looks like Tc-99m has a decay that is 99.9963% gamma ray emission and 0.0037% beta decay. So yeah, its a gamma only or decays through Isomeric Transition. Sounds like you've been getting some healthy doses there.
The white dots of death. Dayum to be seeing those clearly the rate must be impressive. I only saw them once when putting my phone through TSA while recording. My geiger counter maxed out at >10mSv/h somehow
Had that a couple years ago, was putting out about 53000 CPM several hours after the treatment. They got very good images of my heart and I got peace of mind when told "just minor stuff, not going to kill you", plus as a bonus I got 19 years worth of background radiation over a weeks period. I was also asked if I was going near the border or the airport, ah no.
I'm fairly confident that the only people who bring some sort of radiation detector with them, are also the people who understand radiation enough not to confront someone about it.
I used to work in a medical facility and they would give us old furniture from the cancer center and particularly from where the patients were using the equipment. They would store the furniture until it was “safe” according to their “standards”.
Iodine 131 is a very strong isotope. I haven't run into anyone yet that has had that...or at least I haven't been able to identify it quick enough. I've had a couple of walk bys in public areas that triggered my Radiacode alarm.
@@RadioactiveDrew Patients having the I-131 post ablation therapy should be given radiation instructions/restrictions. It's guidance on how long they need to isolate themselves from family/public. That might be why you haven't run into anyone under gone the treatment.
Hi Drew! I had to have a cardiac scan done on the gamma camera using TC-99M a year or so ago. The tech knew I was into this stuff by the questions I was asking him. Turned out to be a very educational experience and a nice discussion between the two of us. After we were finished with the scan, he took me for a nickel tour of their lab. They had a Ludlum 3 rigged up by the lab door for surveillance of anything going thru the lab door. Naturally, it went off like I hit the jackpot when I walked past it!! I charted the count drop over the following few days, just to watch half lives in action!! Thanks as always!! Randy
I had a test that required me to get Gadolinium 68 for a PET scan (it gives off positrons). I came home and my Ludlum Model 3 was screaming about 10,000 cpm. It has a half life of just over an hour, so it died down within a few hours.
Great point about not confronting these folks and being careful about even talking to them. Those who are having the type of imaging which uses TC-99M might already be having a difficult enough time dealing with cancer or other major health issues, and having been there myself twice in my life (once as a pre-teen, once in my 50s), that alone is enough suckage in your life to make confrontations and even just discussions indescribably worse. Thanks for taking the time to address that!
Interesting video thank you Drew. Several years ago I had a proçedure which involved me ingesting a radioactive tracer. I was told to go straight home, stay there for a day, avoid people and handle my waste properly.
I remember about fifteen years ago I just finished building my first Geiger counter using an old surplus sbm-20 tube. My girlfriend at the time just had a HIDA scan due to some gallbladder issues. I knew the tracer was radioactive so when she was done I was very excited to see how radioactive she was. When I turned my Geiger counter on she was on the other side of a three car garage and the GC speaker just sounded like a high pitch tone. I thought a solder connection must have broken until she walked a good distance away and I could then hear it dropped to clicks. When I realized I just never saw a source anywhere near that hot, I was floored at just how radioactive she was.
It is "high energy" photons, not high speed photons. The speed of all photons in a given medium is constant. The quantic energy is the product of frequency and Planck constant. I wish I could sit next to that guy with DMC-3000.
I've here of people being giving tours of the White House (something anyone can sign up for) and setting off silent alarms hidden throughout the compound and them freaking out. I think the Secret Service started asking people if they're on chemo after that.
Don't do anything that would cause you not to be invited back. I hear their sense of humor sucks and are super grumpy and frown all the time. Good luck!@@c0ba1t
Both my cats had I-131. They had to be isolated in their own room for about two weeks, then they were allowed into the house but couldn't sit beside you or on top of you for another couple of weeks. In this time they were not allowed to lick you, and a special type of flushable cat litter was used. The protocol will differ between countries. I would have to look it up, but I'm pretty sure I-131 is mainly a beta emittor, with some gamma. A cat is small and the thyroid is just under the skin in the throat, so an accumulation of I-131 in the cats thyroid could cause beta particles to pass from the cat into you if the cat escaped the isolation room and slept on top of you (for example). For humans treated with I-131 - no doubt with a much bigger dose - there are no such restrictions. You can still share a bed with a partner who has been treated, so it seems a bit overkill to me.
I had a nuclear stress test about 2 years ago. I used my GMC-300 to measure my radioactivity after the test. I held it to my chest and measured 45,000cpm. I decided to not sleep next to my pregnant wife for a couple of days til I was back down to background levels.
I think that was a good move. I had a family member get a Tc-99m injection and they were crazy hot. Made sure my youngest daughter wasn't laying against them for those first two days.
Stress agents like sestamibi or myoview are eliminated thru your colon. So poop. Fluids help too. Drink a lot…pee allot. Within one day you have passed 4 half lives. I tell patients after 24 hours Technesium is mostly gone
One of the reasons I bought a Radiacode 102 was to detect radioactive people. I drive for multiple ride share companies and suspect I occasionally have medical passengers that receive thyroid cancer treatment. I’m waiting for that day. Good discussion.
I'm sure one of these days you are going to get someone really radioactive...statistically its possible. Its not like I run into a lot of these people. I think I have had 4 encounters so far.
Now here I was thinking this was going to be about how Marie Curie and her husband having to be buried in lead lined coffins. It's an interesting topic though. When I was a kid I had to get CT scans every couple years to make sure the vertebra and spinal column were growing properly after having to have emergency surgery shortly after birth (they did for anyone who's wondering) and know some of the contrast dyes were radioactive but it's been so long I have no idea what they used back then. A few years ago one of my friends had to have a procedure with something spicy like that. They told him he may set off radiation detectors in the first couple days and gave him some papers telling him what to do if it happened which AFAIK didn't.
Great post! Thank you sir! I work on systems that collect and aggregate patient irradiation events, whether from a radiology study, nuc med, radonc, you name it. This was right up my alley so to speak. It's fascinating how much radiation we can actually handle before it becomes a high risk. It also fascinates me how scared people are from ionizing radiation. It's like this misunderstood, invisible force that causes instant death. We all know that's not the case at all. That's why we love your channel! Always love seeing a new vid from the one and only radioactive Drew
I wish more people knew about how radiation works. But I think some of these videos teach people a bit by showing them different things. Glad you like the videos.
A retired Radiologic Technologist here , I was trained and prefer radioactive units in REM. That stands for Radiation Equivalent Man. These units were created from the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. Ten REM is a lot more than I use for a CXR (chest xray) Sieverts are fine for the laboratory, but I’m not interested in them , What I AM interested in is the ionizing radiation effects on humans. Ten REM is more than two CXR for an average sized adult. Love your episodes !
Pedantic point of information: it stands for Roentgen Equivalent Man, in honor of Wilhelm Roentgen who discovered x-rays. One Roentgen (or RAD, Roentgen Air Dose) is the dose required to create one coulomb of charge in 1 cubic centimeter of air.
Comments like this Drew are sensational. This FSE (field service engineer) didn’t do anything dangerous or imprudent. He practiced ALARA and all was fine. My FSE is the BEST!!!
Shout out to Dustin at the Metricwrench! Great video Drew, I had no idea people were walking around in public radded out. That’s a proper use of nuclear materials vs. other and the fact you are showing it by type on a phone with a handheld detector in a deli…it’s an amazing time to be alive!!
@@christophertiredofbs8514well, if you're going to correct him, get it right. It's Bill Bixby. And dang you for making me go on IMDB to verify this crap!
As I stated in another one of your videos, I had a Tc-99 injection for a heart study (no ;problems, my heart was fine). It took a lot longer than 60 hours to go back near normal. It was more like 3 weeks. I stayed away from my grand kids until it went down to normal. I didn't want my 5 year old grand daughter sitting on my lap while I was putting out over 300,000 CPS.
This happened to me today at a restaurant. I was sitting there enjoying my meal when my phone and radiacode 102 both went off. I was immediately able to see it was TC99m. He and his wife were seated at the table next to us. I took your advice and kept it to myself and didn't let them know I detected radiation. I couldn't wait to get home so I could come here and tell the "Drew Crew".
I was radioactive for 6 hours after a PET scan! Got over 32,000CPM I took photos of the gear used to transport and prepare the injection, if you’re interested. It’s pretty crazy! Only 10mL, by the way. How it works? They irradiate glucose with a cyclotron and it must be used within a few hours and must be couriered to your institution. 0:01 Then they inject you with the radioisotope, which is absorbed at a higher rate by cancer cells groveling for sugar, which is detected by a gamma camera in a full body scan. Healing tissue also uptakes sugar at a higher rate. The scan is used both for confirmation and triage, in case the cancer has spread.
I've heard of this before. The whole subject of nuclear medicine is super interesting. Thanks for the offer on the pictures. My email is in the about tab for my channel.
Flourodeoxyglucose F-18 FDG. Some cancers have metastasis that are glucose avid. The F-18 is tagged to glucose. F-18 is a beta/positron emitter not gamma.
I have a RADEX ONE radiation detector and have had it for 5 or 6 years. I work in the oil fields and there is some NORM(naturally occurring radioactive material) out here and in certain parts of Texas some of it is QUITE high in places.....anyway.... I was at work, on a job WAY out in the middle of nowhere, as usual, and they were building a pipeline for the oil(nothing unusual) that went past our job site. I hear this 'beep-beep-beep-ing' and cant figure out what it is. I localize the beeping and its in my backpack where my RADEX ONE lives and to my surprise its reading 48µSv/hr......not 0.48µSv/hr....48...and it went up and down and up and down.....I was freaking out....no, really. So I looked out the window and there, 100ish yards over, was a guy leaning against the newly welded pipeline with a remote control box.....I walked over and asked him...."You doing NDT on the pipeline??" "Yeah, we do all the new pipelines.....how did you know?" I told him my Geiger counter was going ape shit. He laughed and told me I was the first one in his 10 years of doing that job who had had a Geiger counter and figured out what was going on. Have to admit I was a bit shocked, but at least I KNOW the RADEX ONE is still working after banging around in my pack for years.....
Are you aware of the old open pit uranium mines south of San Antonio? Yeah... neither was I until I wound up working a well site near them 😆 I wasn't particularly happy about the lack of information or signage... They're not supposedly very well cleaned up and are now just lakes that but the tailings piles are supposedly still sitting around. Good old Texas for ya...
My wife had to undergo a scintigraphy a few days ago. I sat at home and waited in the kitchen with my DIY Geiger counter. I didn't expect it to start crackling before she even opened the door. That was a distance of 8m. When she stood next to me, the dose alarm was already ringing.
I wish I hade a radiocode a couple of years ago when I had a full body bone-scan! After the injection, I was told to leave the hospital swiftly not to radiate other people and give them bad results. Not to talk to anyone and stay away from especially pregnant people and young children. Then something like one and half hour later I could get inside and straight to the scanningroom. Not earlier then the appointment... Probably the same kind of isotopes. Also needed to avoid close contact with others for the next day
5 reactors in the world make the vast majority of Mo-99 for Tc99m. None in the USA. MURR in Columbia, Mo. makes only a tiny amount of Moly for North American consumption. My understanding that companies like Northstar have issues with Moly production from their accelerators to provide high enuf specific activity to be viable. 🤷
I've been that guy. 40mC of TC99m. Couldn't get near my RC102 for a couple of days. On injection the RC saturated, but later I extrapolated it to about 8 million CPM at the center of my chest. A nuclear cardiac stress test. I had fun watching myself glow.
That’s so crazy. I often think about contamination when visiting uranium mines. But that is nothing compared to what people experience with nuclear medicine. Of course that Tc-99m with be gone in a couple days and whatever uranium contamination might be with me for a bit longer. Btw, I do check myself for contamination after visiting sites. Other than radon daughter contamination I usually don’t find anything.
I have also been slightly radioactive and have had a bone scan in the hospital twice. I remember very well that I found it very interesting. the first scan was to see if anything could be seen and the second time I received a 24 hour scan. To get a better look at what could be seen, they then took 3 large tubes of blood and 2 hours later a small syringe came back with blood plasma with Technetium. After the scan when I was home, I kept my children, who were still young, separate. and the next day my wife went to an amusement park with the children. Finally, the examination revealed that I had an infection in the bone marrow of my lower leg. with all its consequences . I just got the hang of this due to a firefight with the Taliban in 2009
Friend of mine had a cat who was treated for something with a radioactive isotope. Unfortunately I don't recall any details about the medical problem or the isotope, but my friend was told not to let the cat sit on anyone's lap while the treatment was undergoing, and to collect all the poop and bring it to the doctor for proper disposal, as it would trigger an alarm. It was some kind of experimental treatment back then, I am not sure if it's common by now.
@@RadioactiveDrewin the UK, cats treated with I-131 spend about 5-7 days as an in patient, then about two weeks in an isolation room, then the next couple of weeks they can come out of the room but can't be closer than about 1m to people and can't go outdoors. All waste must be flushed with a special cat litter. Crazy to think a person with a MUCH higher dose can carry on as normal. Some rules don't make sense. This is the best treatment for hyperthyroidism in cats, and is a common treatment, but it's very expensive.
I've had the same thing happen in a mcdonalds in vienna. Apparently there is a radiology hospital nearby. The second i walked in to that mcdonalds, the radiacode and my phone started blaring. I was pretty high readings standing close to this person. She noticed my phone and the radiacode wailing and clicking away and i think she knew what was going on because she immediately looked away. Pretty sure they told her not to be in public for a day or two.
Thanks Drew for clearing that up, as you know without the facts you really done know. By the way I did just get my RadiaCode 103 a couple of days ago, so far I love it. I'm over in Darby MT and have quit a few places to look for hot rocks and gold. Have a good one, thanks for the great channel. BlueDog Ken
My dad had this procedure done. I picked him up from the hospital and could detected him before I could even see him. At home, I could detect him through the floors and while we was outside. I can't imagine that can be good.
I have had this injection twice. While in the hospital i was asked to use a specific toilet if i needed to. The wicked in me wanted to visit a nuclear power station just to see if alarms went off.
I always take mine with me when I visit doctors offices or hospitals. I've had two discoveries. 1- A poorly insulated wall near imaging at a hospital - not dangerous but detectable. 2- One of my Doctors that was getting treatment himself.
Great informative video ! I have an older Geiger counter an after my nuclear stress test in 2017. I videoed it pegging the meter when i held the probe to my chest as soon as I got home from it. Its a short video, but I was surprised how hot I was from that test. It's on my channel but not very great quality video.
When I received I-131 for cancer, I had to be isolated for months, couldn't be within 20 feet of kids and pets, adults had a 5 minute window per day for that distance pls I had all kinds of rules about cleaning the toilet after every use, not letting others do my laundry, had to run the washing machine empty after laundry all to keep radiation exposure to others at a minimum. I received the radiation in April and come thanksgiving I went to an uncles in NYC and the hospital had to give me a special letter on hospital letter head I had to carry at al times so that if I set off any radiation sensors in the city (post 9/11) I could hand the letter to law enforcement explaining things and giving them a way to contact the hospital my surgeon and Endocrinologist.
What you say makes perfect sense for passing someone in a sandwich shop. But how would you react if this person sat down next to you on a 6 hour flight?
My 6th grade science teacher had Stage 3 thyroid cancer and for a large chunk of the year, she was taking liquid Iodine 131 on a pretty regular basis. This was around the time the school switched to document cameras and VGA projectors instead of overhead transparency projectors, but she had to keep using the old overhead projector cause her neck was usually close enough to the camera when doing a lesson that it got super grainy and borderline unwatchable, and you could tell by the level of graininess how far away she was - whenever she walked away to grab a binder or something it'd clear up and look fine. On a lark, I downloaded a "radiation detector" app on my (extremely early) Android phone that had you cover the rear camera with black electrical tape, got sent to the principal's office one time cause I walked into class and had apparently forgot to mute notifications, so my phone started screaming at me.
@PsRohrbaugh I kind of agree with this. But the dose level wouldn’t be terribly high unless the kids were sitting right next to her. Radiation intensity drops off very suddenly.
It's absolutely crazy the precautions you have to take with a cat who has I-131 for hyperthyroidism - two weeks almost total isolation at home (after 5-7 days as an in-patient) at a MUCH lower dose than a human - who can work around kids.
Generally speaking, folks who are getting these injections tend to be battling for their lives. There is no recreational purpose for these things, so yes, please be mindful, respectful, and maybe a bit more patient if they are short with others, because they are getting enough pain, anger, frustration, fear, and distrust from their own body, and don't need more from elsewhere. Thank you for making this video. It shows the kind of compassion and understanding that we really need to see a LOT more of in our world.
I just came across one earlier in dollar general , i ended up walking out i will admit i was kind a nervous even though im used to some radioactive stuff. The range on the radiation was nuts reminded me of radium. My radiacode would of went off if i had stayed any longer. It started ticking up soon as i walked in .
Wow, that’s fascinating. I’ve heard of (IIRC) iodine 131 treatment for over active thyroid. Had not heard of Technetium treatment. I really should get one of those Radicode units. I have some old buses that used to have radium illuminated toggle switches in them. It would have been interesting to test them.
Unfortunately, working in the power plants, people do receive uptakes that are generally worse than anything here. You can look this up, but a couple gentleman inhaled over 700 millirem in contaminates after a vacuum bag collapsed while cutting piping on the primary system at a facility 3 years ago. It wasn't Tc-99 they inhaled either... We're talking cobalt and cesium. I've never seen something like this happen as usually everything is so overdone safety wise with Radiation Protection. I install cameras in reactor vessels and I don't even get near those kind of levels in year.
I had a stomach emptying test a few years ago. Ate some food that a radioactive marker had been added to, then got scanned regularly for the marker. Makes me wonder what was used, how radioactive I was, and for how long. Very cool episode, Drew.
0.5 mCI of Tc99m sulfer colloid. The sulfer colloid nicely binds with egg protein. Free Technesium goes to other parts of the body you don’t want to see on a NM GASTRIC EMPTYING STUDY.
@TheCatherineCC I would love to work with them to show off some of their equipment. I think people would like to see what everything does when they are in for a procedure.
I had a PET scan recently, and when I told the tech I planned to see me 5 year old granddaughter afterwards, and I was told to stay 12’ away through that day.
My wife had a Tc-9M in a hospital and I took my Geiger counter in her room (a very large room in the cardio section) and when she came back it went wild when she walked in the room. Even at 20 feet you could tell the radiation was high. The next day she was still way over background. I should have used the measurements and time to calculate the half life. Later my cardiologist gave me a stress test and I was so excited I bought my detector with me but the test used chemical dyes and sonograms, no isotope. Later my wife had another test, no isotope, but I had my Geiger counter in my bag (where it was muffled) and I could tell each patient that entered the room that had an isotope stress test, many feet away through closed door.
I had a radioactive contrast injected into me when I had a PET scan i remember the nurse bringing this motorized cart into the room which I can only assume was lead lined and when she started the injection she stepped out of the room and stood in the doorway. I remember specifically being told not to go any closer than 6 feet to children for 6 hours. I have no idea what the contrast was but it sounds like it was this compound. I was told it was a radioactive sugar. When I worked for a airline I remember handling these little yellow boxes all the time. Hazardous goods. Didn't think anything of it
Right after these procedures you can be very radioactive. This guy I found might have had his procedure earlier that morning and had a little bit of time to calm down.
@@RadioactiveDrew it did surprise me a little being told to stay away from kids. I'll assume the half life was around 6 hours and within 12 hours it was insignificant
yes this also happened to me my alarm went off when my landlord would walk by my room, crazy scared me to death and yes my monitor R102 i bought because of your channel works awesome
It’s where I’ve lived the majority of my life. I’ve been east of the Mississippi a couple of times. Spent more time overseas than in the eastern half of the US.
My dad had a Tc-99m inject about a year and a half ago. When I checked him about 3 hours after the procedure, It set off the low level alarm on my Radiacode 101 the moment I turned on from the other side of the house. Holding it up to his side near his kidneys resulted in the 101 maxing out and displaying "> 1mSv/h".
@@earlp6731 It was a cardiac stress test. They said that the Tc-99m would be excreted through the urine, so I assumed that kidneys would have a decent concentration as it was filtered out.
The first time i heard my radiacode 102 sound the klaxon... I was at costco, had just opened the freezer to check out their new chinese soup dumplings. It sounded just as I picked up the package. Nearly dropped them, but put them back on the shelf quickly. Picked them up again, no warning. Thought it was a fluke. Maybe it wasn't! I never thought to turn around to look at folks behind me.
That is VERY INTERESTING. Why not making a specific video on what YOU consider DANGEROUS.. and explain to us WHY.. because it is relative to which damage you consider and which risk a given dose is. I hear you alot commenting : "that is not very dangerous" in your video many times. but it has something to do with DOSE, RATE, your health conditions, EXPOSURE and acceptance if cancer increase relatively I mean. Thanks you for your great videos
The Radiacode can be used to find radioactive antiques. I find something that has an easier time detecting alpha, beta and gamma to be much more helpful. Usually uranium glass objects don't give off a lot of gamma radiation. But they do give off a decent amount of alpha and beta radiation. The Radiacode detectors are very sensitive to gamma radiation...but not much else.
I’ve been given the same radioisotope twice in the past three years or so. Once it was in a big and rather insipid serving of scrambled eggs, in an attempt to see whether my stomach is refusing to empty promptly: it often does, but not always, and the radioactive tracer showed the eggs showing up in my small intestine fairly quickly. The second time: white blood cells removed from 50cc or so of my blood, Tc-99m added, returned to bloodstream to see whether they would cluster around an area that was supposed to have a lingering infection. They didn’t, strongly suggesting that the infection was gone.
I was in McDonald’s minding my own when suddenly my RadiaCode 102 started screaming. Not just my level 1 alarm but my level 2 alarm (I have fairly low set points of 10 and 100 CPS, but for my environment I don’t even reach 5 CPS all too often) I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I restarted my 102, and my app. Still going off. I didn’t get to track it down with the meter before it stopped going off. I didn’t realize it would be sensitive enough to pick up someone receiving radiation treatments, especially considering the distance I was from the customers. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it in the future. That could also explain a lot of “random” blips when I’m out and about.
I’m sure it was. It’s not often I hit over 1000 CPS. My peak was just over 1.5k CPS. I’ll definitely keep an eye out in the future and try to catch it.
I had a TC-99m injection for a cardiac nuclear stress test. As I was the first patient that morning I asked the medical tech that was doing the procedure about what they did and if they would mind if I could monitor the test with my Raysid and Radiacode 102. The technician was so delighted that I asked about it and I had a basic understanding of radiation, that she gave me a mini tour while she setup the "gamma camera" and calibrated it with their test source. As soon as they pulled the bottle from the lead pig for the injection both devices went into over-scale for readings. After waiting a short time for it to circulate through my system, they did the scan and said I was good to go home. I was advised that for the first 24 hours that I should not be around anyone pregnant or small children. Needless to say 45 minutes later when I got home, I could max out every meter I have at 10 feet! So for a little over a day, I was the hottest ☢thing in my spicy collection.
wish I would’ve ran into you in diamond Springs. I’ve got a really radioactive clock i’d love to show you hope to see you there one day. They’ve got really good sandwiches in there.
My mothers doctor put some radioactive liquid into her to run some tests on her. Shes had the radioactive drink, and an injection for cardiovascular. I would poke fun at her, i would tell her she would be her own night light, or if she farted she would be the source of fallout. Or she's a walking xray machine. She isolated herself until it was pretty much out of her system.
Mechanic in CA, kin to ya? Is you one a them CA transplants to MT that may have opened a movie rental shop but thought better of it and now specializes in movie house projectors??? If so, GLAD to see ya made it! Our family came to MT via WY in the 60s in the oil-field frat, now living in WI, but MT is on my mind. I enjoy you radio active TH-cams! Beckons to The Firm, “Radio Active”.
![[안방1열 직캠4K] 베이비몬스터 치키타 'DRIP' (BABYMONSTER CHIQUITA FanCam) @SBS Inkigayo 241110](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tnlxo79cAqY/mqdefault.jpg)
I AM VERY RADIOACTIVE!!! You will find me on the Ham Radio bands talking to people all over the world!!! 😁😁😁
Good one.
most people are on FT8 now days lol
QSL
@@srmicrowave Don't forget WSPR and FT4! 😀
Doesn't matter what most people do :)
I have had several doses of TC-99M over the years. Having worked in Naval nuclear power I was able to have some fun walking by friskers at control points and setting them off. My first shot in 1987 the tech walked right up next to me carrying a cylinder that said 7mcuries of TC-99M, showing no concern holding it right in front of himself he put it in a syringe and injected me. after the procedure was over and I was leaving I saw an ANPDR/27 with an external speaker on a desk and I asked if I could use it. He gave me a funny look and said I guess so nobody has ever asked before. I turned it on and placed it on contact with where he injected my arm it was 8mr/hr. As soon as the tech heard the clicks from the speaker he backed up about 5 feet and said my god you are radioactive. Thought you might get a laugh out of this
A few years ago I also had Technetium injected and once I got home I found that even from another room I was still making my detector "sing". I knew it wasn't a problem but it was interesting to see.
I drove by an older woman In a Camry in traffic and radiacode was screaming 20 feet away separated by two cars. You never know what interesting things you're going to find with a radiacode.
when i was on pet ct i mean after it i took phone opened camera and put it on my leg there where white dots . recently i bought geiger module for arduino cause i got scared over old glow in dark clock even though it was very unlikely to be radium one , whish i had it sooner since i dont have sources to test it .
This isn’t exactly radiation but I was the patient in a MRI when the fire alarm in the unit went off, somewhat recently. Yes the machine stopped, we evacuated and the fire department arrived. The issue is/was…I was moved only about 40 ft away, even though it was through two doors( this is in a hospital MRI ) and I could still smell whatever it was that was burning. Most likely electronics’ components, but magnetic energy is simply a different form of energy right? How is it measured, what is the bio cellular impact and what is inside an MRI that can burn in the first place? Online is not helpful so far but aside from knowing the detectors you also seem to know the energy, aka, physics, and biology reasonably well. Thanks for what you are doing. (I think the not moving into clean air is a missed step in the evacuation process and I am attempting to learn the details, not cause any problems, just fix the situation for the future)
USCBP agents have been wearing neutron detectors since not long after 9/11. I was in the Dallas office when a guy came in who'd had a dye procedure a few hours ago. Every agent in the building's neutron detector went off while the guy was still in the parking lot.
The neutron detectors must not have had very good gamma discrimination.
Exactly. Nothing in Nuc Med or PET uses neutrons.
Neutrons? That's weird
A dirty bomb wouldn't make neutrons so it would make no sense for them to be issued those
In George Carlin’s introductory monolog “I am a Modern Man”, he states “I’m interactive, hyperactive and from time to time, I’m radioactive.”
You wouldn't like that guy when he's angry
Lol hulk
I carry Radiacode102 daily. And last year it got tripped 4-5 times on our commute and around the place we have dinner. I always had though something dodgy was going on. But now that youve mentioned it, I realize there is pretty big hospital around that place, and thats just people being treated .
More than likely if you are seeing some sudden spikes in activity its from a nuclear medicine procedure.
What do you get out of carrying it daily?
@@fredharvey2720if you got it might as well use it. Never know when you bump into an orphaned source otherwise.
@@fredharvey2720 "oh, that dentist's office is just shooting xrays into city streets all day, this is fine"
@@fredharvey2720 Daily - nothing really. My main use is in mountain biking and hiking, mapping the trails since some of them are in the radioactive regions. But it is small enough to carry it daily. Also its a good piece of mind to have if you live in Europe with the Ukrainian war and all.
My father had prostate cancer a few years ago, he was offered two treatments:
One was to have a radioactive pellet into him. Or to have surgery.
He chose the surgery, because he was told he couldn't play with his grandchildren if he had the radiation treatment.
Last year, I stopped by to visit my mother on mother's day and I had recently purchased a Better Geiger S-1 and turned it on to show it to her and it was clicking way more than I expected it to but the dose rate wasn't significantly elevated so it was picking up a lot of low energy gamma... turns out the source was my mother who had some cardiac imaging done that involved a Tc-99m injection. 8 half lives had passed since her procedure and the S-1 was still reading over 1000 CPM - background reads around 60 CPM. My mother was radiant on mother's day 😂
Since then, I've purchased a Radiacode 102 which is quite a bit more sensitive and pairs with my phone. I have encountered several radioactive people in the wild like this.
I KEEP DRIVING BY THEM, on Seattle I-5. Radiacode goes crazy. At first I thought it must be a spill, but when I drove through again, ...nothing.
At first I detected two cars in two days. But now it's more like one per month. (Once it even was someone on a city bus.)
Also, while sitting in the parking lot outside the bookstore, the Radiacode briefly clicked at about 3X background. An elderly man had just walked directly in front of my car. But that was NOTHIN' compared to people in cars on the interstate, way above background, even when 50ft away inside a car.
Seattle has a very busy hospital, so I would imagine they would have a bunch of nuclear medicine procedures on a daily basis. Its amazing how far this radiation can be detected.
I know of a student who came home (Vancouver Canada) from visiting Ukraine. During her visit the Chernobyl disaster cooked off. When she went through the detectors at the TRIUMF accelerator complex at UBC (she was a physics major) several weeks later, the detectors went nuts. Apparently her sneakers were highly radioactive, as she had put them outside, on the hotel room balcony while she slept.
TRIUMF sends stuff to UBC Hospital's nuclear medicine floor and my radiacode was going nuts down there. Cool video exists of the pneumatic delivery system
Yep, I've had Tc-99m 4 times in the past 2 years, for bone scans (checking for cancer spread). Also, tc-99m is a pure gamma emitter, no beta. It decays directly into normal tc-99. That does decay via beta, but with a much longer half-life (211,000 years). The body will eliminate all of it before any measurable amount of tc-99 will decay. I was detecting about 75 uSv/hr coming off of me after my last scan.
It looks like Tc-99m has a decay that is 99.9963% gamma ray emission and 0.0037% beta decay. So yeah, its a gamma only or decays through Isomeric Transition. Sounds like you've been getting some healthy doses there.
My girlfriend was radioactive enough after a scan to see artifacts on a cellphone camera when it was pressed on her
I believe it. The radiation coming off of someone after a Tc-99m is very impressive.
@@RadioactiveDrew I was much, much higher than I has expected
@@krz8888888might be time to lay off the weed then
I have clocks that will show specks of light on my iPhone in the dark. It’s impressive.
The white dots of death. Dayum to be seeing those clearly the rate must be impressive. I only saw them once when putting my phone through TSA while recording. My geiger counter maxed out at >10mSv/h somehow
Had that a couple years ago, was putting out about 53000 CPM several hours after the treatment. They got very good images of my heart and I got peace of mind when told "just minor stuff, not going to kill you", plus as a bonus I got 19 years worth of background radiation over a weeks period. I was also asked if I was going near the border or the airport, ah no.
Yeah, that imagining can give you a pretty significant dose.
I'm fairly confident that the only people who bring some sort of radiation detector with them, are also the people who understand radiation enough not to confront someone about it.
I've had this twice, initially i thought my Geiger was broken/ malfunctioning. It was somewhat horrifying when i realized it was working as intended.
The first time you run into a very active source it can be a little concerning...especially when its in a place you weren't expecting.
@@RadioactiveDrew i was sure my gmc was broken until i walked away from the table and it settled down...yep iwas shocked
My Radiacode 102 alarmed after passing someone in a Goodwill parking lot, so interesting to be able to see who has gotten NM care recently!
I used to work in a medical facility and they would give us old furniture from the cancer center and particularly from where the patients were using the equipment. They would store the furniture until it was “safe” according to their “standards”.
My uncle has Graves' disease and they nuked his thyroid with radioactive iodine and now he has to take pills to make up for his lack of a thyroid
Iodine 131 is a very strong isotope. I haven't run into anyone yet that has had that...or at least I haven't been able to identify it quick enough. I've had a couple of walk bys in public areas that triggered my Radiacode alarm.
@@RadioactiveDrew Patients having the I-131 post ablation therapy should be given radiation instructions/restrictions. It's guidance on how long they need to isolate themselves from family/public. That might be why you haven't run into anyone under gone the treatment.
Hi Drew! I had to have a cardiac scan done on the gamma camera using TC-99M a year or so ago. The tech knew I was into this stuff by the questions I was asking him. Turned out to be a very educational experience and a nice discussion between the two of us. After we were finished with the scan, he took me for a nickel tour of their lab. They had a Ludlum 3 rigged up by the lab door for surveillance of anything going thru the lab door. Naturally, it went off like I hit the jackpot when I walked past it!! I charted the count drop over the following few days, just to watch half lives in action!! Thanks as always!! Randy
I had a test that required me to get Gadolinium 68 for a PET scan (it gives off positrons). I came home and my Ludlum Model 3 was screaming about 10,000 cpm. It has a half life of just over an hour, so it died down within a few hours.
whoops, Gallium 68. I had Gadolinium for a previous CT as a contrast agent
Dang, half-life of an hour. That must have been spicy.
It's such a short half life that they manufacture onsite at the hospital using a linear accelerator on Germanium.
That’s pretty cool. I’m hoping I can do a video at a hospital about their nuclear medicine program. I think so many people would find it helpful.
That would be realy cool to see!
mirskym, I hope everything went well for You!
Great point about not confronting these folks and being careful about even talking to them. Those who are having the type of imaging which uses TC-99M might already be having a difficult enough time dealing with cancer or other major health issues, and having been there myself twice in my life (once as a pre-teen, once in my 50s), that alone is enough suckage in your life to make confrontations and even just discussions indescribably worse. Thanks for taking the time to address that!
Glad you appreciated that.
Interesting video thank you Drew. Several years ago I had a proçedure which involved me ingesting a radioactive tracer. I was told to go straight home, stay there for a day, avoid people and handle my waste properly.
I think for different isotopes, there are different precautions.
What do they expect you to do with your waste? They don’t think you’ll flush it down the toilet?
That guy had been bit by a radioactive spider.
I remember about fifteen years ago I just finished building my first Geiger counter using an old surplus sbm-20 tube. My girlfriend at the time just had a HIDA scan due to some gallbladder issues. I knew the tracer was radioactive so when she was done I was very excited to see how radioactive she was. When I turned my Geiger counter on she was on the other side of a three car garage and the GC speaker just sounded like a high pitch tone. I thought a solder connection must have broken until she walked a good distance away and I could then hear it dropped to clicks. When I realized I just never saw a source anywhere near that hot, I was floored at just how radioactive she was.
The isotopes involved in nuclear medicine are very radioactive. By far some of the most intense sources I have run across.
th-cam.com/video/QbojoZTn55k/w-d-xo.htmlsi=8jdJLhSijhA7195n
It is "high energy" photons, not high speed photons. The speed of all photons in a given medium is constant. The quantic energy is the product of frequency and Planck constant.
I wish I could sit next to that guy with DMC-3000.
I've here of people being giving tours of the White House (something anyone can sign up for) and setting off silent alarms hidden throughout the compound and them freaking out. I think the Secret Service started asking people if they're on chemo after that.
Next time I visit the White House (I've been twice), I'll be sure to take my 1940's Radium compass. I get over half a million CPM off of that thing.
Don't do anything that would cause you not to be invited back. I hear their sense of humor sucks and are super grumpy and frown all the time. Good luck!@@c0ba1t
Chemo isn't radioactive
My cat got I-131 therapy for his thyroid and he was radioactive.
Was it detectable on a Geiger counter? Does the decay produce detectable gammas?
Both my cats had I-131. They had to be isolated in their own room for about two weeks, then they were allowed into the house but couldn't sit beside you or on top of you for another couple of weeks. In this time they were not allowed to lick you, and a special type of flushable cat litter was used. The protocol will differ between countries.
I would have to look it up, but I'm pretty sure I-131 is mainly a beta emittor, with some gamma. A cat is small and the thyroid is just under the skin in the throat, so an accumulation of I-131 in the cats thyroid could cause beta particles to pass from the cat into you if the cat escaped the isolation room and slept on top of you (for example).
For humans treated with I-131 - no doubt with a much bigger dose - there are no such restrictions. You can still share a bed with a partner who has been treated, so it seems a bit overkill to me.
I had a nuclear stress test about 2 years ago. I used my GMC-300 to measure my radioactivity after the test. I held it to my chest and measured 45,000cpm. I decided to not sleep next to my pregnant wife for a couple of days til I was back down to background levels.
I think that was a good move. I had a family member get a Tc-99m injection and they were crazy hot. Made sure my youngest daughter wasn't laying against them for those first two days.
Stress agents like sestamibi or myoview are eliminated thru your colon. So poop. Fluids help too. Drink a lot…pee allot.
Within one day you have passed 4 half lives. I tell patients after 24 hours Technesium is mostly gone
One of the reasons I bought a Radiacode 102 was to detect radioactive people. I drive for multiple ride share companies and suspect I occasionally have medical passengers that receive thyroid cancer treatment. I’m waiting for that day. Good discussion.
I'm sure one of these days you are going to get someone really radioactive...statistically its possible. Its not like I run into a lot of these people. I think I have had 4 encounters so far.
I work in NM and I send many folks home in ride share vehicles.
Surprising, and very interesting too. Thanks Drew!
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the comment.
@@RadioactiveDrew I enjoy all your videos
Now here I was thinking this was going to be about how Marie Curie and her husband having to be buried in lead lined coffins. It's an interesting topic though. When I was a kid I had to get CT scans every couple years to make sure the vertebra and spinal column were growing properly after having to have emergency surgery shortly after birth (they did for anyone who's wondering) and know some of the contrast dyes were radioactive but it's been so long I have no idea what they used back then.
A few years ago one of my friends had to have a procedure with something spicy like that. They told him he may set off radiation detectors in the first couple days and gave him some papers telling him what to do if it happened which AFAIK didn't.
Great post! Thank you sir!
I work on systems that collect and aggregate patient irradiation events, whether from a radiology study, nuc med, radonc, you name it. This was right up my alley so to speak. It's fascinating how much radiation we can actually handle before it becomes a high risk.
It also fascinates me how scared people are from ionizing radiation. It's like this misunderstood, invisible force that causes instant death. We all know that's not the case at all. That's why we love your channel! Always love seeing a new vid from the one and only radioactive Drew
I wish more people knew about how radiation works. But I think some of these videos teach people a bit by showing them different things. Glad you like the videos.
Ask a NucMed Professional what their lifetime ring badge dosimeter report says. You would be astonished 👍
@@earlp6731 haha yup, we call them the glowing techs lol
A retired Radiologic Technologist here , I was trained and prefer radioactive units in REM. That stands for Radiation Equivalent Man. These units were created from the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. Ten REM is a lot more than I use for a CXR (chest xray)
Sieverts are fine for the laboratory, but I’m not interested in them , What I AM interested in is the ionizing radiation effects on humans. Ten REM is more than two CXR for an average sized adult.
Love your episodes !
Glad you enjoy the videos.
Pedantic point of information: it stands for Roentgen Equivalent Man, in honor of Wilhelm Roentgen who discovered x-rays. One Roentgen (or RAD, Roentgen Air Dose) is the dose required to create one coulomb of charge in 1 cubic centimeter of air.
I repaired nuclear medicine scanners for 46 years. Spent hours running calibrations requiring 50K counts a second sources,I had no ill effects.
That's some spicy sources...glad you're okay.
Comments like this Drew are sensational. This FSE (field service engineer) didn’t do anything dangerous or imprudent. He practiced ALARA and all was fine. My FSE is the BEST!!!
Shout out to Dustin at the Metricwrench! Great video Drew, I had no idea people were walking around in public radded out. That’s a proper use of nuclear materials vs. other and the fact you are showing it by type on a phone with a handheld detector in a deli…it’s an amazing time to be alive!!
Glad you recognized my bro. The world is a crazy place with a bunch of radioactive objects, people and places.
I bet that guys name was Bruce Banner
David banner
Bruce bixby
@@christophertiredofbs8514well, if you're going to correct him, get it right. It's Bill Bixby. And dang you for making me go on IMDB to verify this crap!
As I stated in another one of your videos, I had a Tc-99 injection for a heart study (no ;problems, my heart was fine). It took a lot longer than 60 hours to go back near normal. It was more like 3 weeks.
I stayed away from my grand kids until it went down to normal. I didn't want my 5 year old grand daughter sitting on my lap while I was putting out over 300,000 CPS.
This happened to me today at a restaurant. I was sitting there enjoying my meal when my phone and radiacode 102 both went off. I was immediately able to see it was TC99m. He and his wife were seated at the table next to us. I took your advice and kept it to myself and didn't let them know I detected radiation. I couldn't wait to get home so I could come here and tell the "Drew Crew".
It’s pretty interesting running into these people out and about.
I was radioactive for 6 hours after a PET scan! Got over 32,000CPM
I took photos of the gear used to transport and prepare the injection, if you’re interested. It’s pretty crazy! Only 10mL, by the way.
How it works? They irradiate glucose with a cyclotron and it must be used within a few hours and must be couriered to your institution. 0:01
Then they inject you with the radioisotope, which is absorbed at a higher rate by cancer cells groveling for sugar, which is detected by a gamma camera in a full body scan. Healing tissue also uptakes sugar at a higher rate.
The scan is used both for confirmation and triage, in case the cancer has spread.
I've heard of this before. The whole subject of nuclear medicine is super interesting. Thanks for the offer on the pictures. My email is in the about tab for my channel.
Flourodeoxyglucose
F-18 FDG.
Some cancers have metastasis that are glucose avid. The F-18 is tagged to glucose. F-18 is a beta/positron emitter not gamma.
I have a RADEX ONE radiation detector and have had it for 5 or 6 years. I work in the oil fields and there is some NORM(naturally occurring radioactive material) out here and in certain parts of Texas some of it is QUITE high in places.....anyway....
I was at work, on a job WAY out in the middle of nowhere, as usual, and they were building a pipeline for the oil(nothing unusual) that went past our job site.
I hear this 'beep-beep-beep-ing' and cant figure out what it is. I localize the beeping and its in my backpack where my RADEX ONE lives and to my surprise its reading 48µSv/hr......not 0.48µSv/hr....48...and it went up and down and up and down.....I was freaking out....no, really.
So I looked out the window and there, 100ish yards over, was a guy leaning against the newly welded pipeline with a remote control box.....I walked over and asked him...."You doing NDT on the pipeline??" "Yeah, we do all the new pipelines.....how did you know?" I told him my Geiger counter was going ape shit. He laughed and told me I was the first one in his 10 years of doing that job who had had a Geiger counter and figured out what was going on.
Have to admit I was a bit shocked, but at least I KNOW the RADEX ONE is still working after banging around in my pack for years.....
Are you aware of the old open pit uranium mines south of San Antonio? Yeah... neither was I until I wound up working a well site near them 😆 I wasn't particularly happy about the lack of information or signage... They're not supposedly very well cleaned up and are now just lakes that but the tailings piles are supposedly still sitting around. Good old Texas for ya...
Well...at least "it's not... too dangerous" to other people.
My wife had to undergo a scintigraphy a few days ago. I sat at home and waited in the kitchen with my DIY Geiger counter. I didn't expect it to start crackling before she even opened the door. That was a distance of 8m. When she stood next to me, the dose alarm was already ringing.
I wish I hade a radiocode a couple of years ago when I had a full body bone-scan!
After the injection, I was told to leave the hospital swiftly not to radiate other people and give them bad results. Not to talk to anyone and stay away from especially pregnant people and young children.
Then something like one and half hour later I could get inside and straight to the scanningroom. Not earlier then the appointment...
Probably the same kind of isotopes.
Also needed to avoid close contact with others for the next day
I had the same Gamma injection 2 times ...
I was for 24 hours in a "lockdown" should not go closer than 3 Meters to pregnant woman ...
Hugs Drew.
PS: If i would follow the German law, my GF would not be able to sleep in my bed again ...lol
I work at where that Tech99m is made. I make many other radioactive isotopes with my cyclotrons
The whole process of making radioisotopes sounds super interesting. I want to make a video about it.
We are in the St Louis region. If serious I can send an email to our PR group to get that ball rolling.
@@hooperjp1701 I'm very serious about doing a video. My contact email is in the about page of the channel.
5 reactors in the world make the vast majority of Mo-99 for Tc99m. None in the USA. MURR in Columbia, Mo. makes only a tiny amount of Moly for North American consumption. My understanding that companies like Northstar have issues with Moly production from their accelerators to provide high enuf specific activity to be viable. 🤷
We get ours from another reactor from Europe
I had a cardiac procedure done with a radioactive tracer and it maxed out my GMC-300E five hours after.
Wow!! I had never even heard of this radioactive element, g... Very interesting...
I've been that guy. 40mC of TC99m. Couldn't get near my RC102 for a couple of days. On injection the RC saturated, but later I extrapolated it to about 8 million CPM at the center of my chest. A nuclear cardiac stress test. I had fun watching myself glow.
That’s so crazy. I often think about contamination when visiting uranium mines. But that is nothing compared to what people experience with nuclear medicine. Of course that Tc-99m with be gone in a couple days and whatever uranium contamination might be with me for a bit longer. Btw, I do check myself for contamination after visiting sites. Other than radon daughter contamination I usually don’t find anything.
Placerville/Diamond/El Dorado says hello my friend it’s awesome to see our little town on the map !!!❤️
I’ve done a couple videos in Placerville at the antique shops down on Main Street.
Interesting topic Drew, thank you.
I have also been slightly radioactive and have had a bone scan in the hospital twice. I remember very well that I found it very interesting. the first scan was to see if anything could be seen and the second time I received a 24 hour scan. To get a better look at what could be seen, they then took 3 large tubes of blood and 2 hours later a small syringe came back with blood plasma with Technetium. After the scan when I was home, I kept my children, who were still young, separate. and the next day my wife went to an amusement park with the children. Finally, the examination revealed that I had an infection in the bone marrow of my lower leg. with all its consequences . I just got the hang of this due to a firefight with the Taliban in 2009
This is just a perfect self-help video I expected for my a sunny Sunday relaxation
Friend of mine had a cat who was treated for something with a radioactive isotope. Unfortunately I don't recall any details about the medical problem or the isotope, but my friend was told not to let the cat sit on anyone's lap while the treatment was undergoing, and to collect all the poop and bring it to the doctor for proper disposal, as it would trigger an alarm. It was some kind of experimental treatment back then, I am not sure if it's common by now.
More than likely the cat was given iodine 131. It has a half-life of 8 days...so that cat would stay pretty active for over a week.
@@RadioactiveDrewin the UK, cats treated with I-131 spend about 5-7 days as an in patient, then about two weeks in an isolation room, then the next couple of weeks they can come out of the room but can't be closer than about 1m to people and can't go outdoors. All waste must be flushed with a special cat litter.
Crazy to think a person with a MUCH higher dose can carry on as normal. Some rules don't make sense.
This is the best treatment for hyperthyroidism in cats, and is a common treatment, but it's very expensive.
I've had the same thing happen in a mcdonalds in vienna. Apparently there is a radiology hospital nearby. The second i walked in to that mcdonalds, the radiacode and my phone started blaring. I was pretty high readings standing close to this person. She noticed my phone and the radiacode wailing and clicking away and i think she knew what was going on because she immediately looked away.
Pretty sure they told her not to be in public for a day or two.
Yeah, those dose rates are no joke. Its a very high level of radiation coming off of a person.
I *Need* a Radiacode 102/103!! Dear Santa!
Does it work on Kryptonite?
Thanks Drew for clearing that up, as you know without the facts you really done know.
By the way I did just get my RadiaCode 103 a couple of days ago, so far I love it. I'm over
in Darby MT and have quit a few places to look for hot rocks and gold.
Have a good one, thanks for the great channel.
BlueDog Ken
My dad had this procedure done. I picked him up from the hospital and could detected him before I could even see him. At home, I could detect him through the floors and while we was outside. I can't imagine that can be good.
I have had this injection twice. While in the hospital i was asked to use a specific toilet if i needed to. The wicked in me wanted to visit a nuclear power station just to see if alarms went off.
If you went to a boarder crossing I'm pretty sure the alarms would have went off there as well.
I always take mine with me when I visit doctors offices or hospitals. I've had two discoveries. 1- A poorly insulated wall near imaging at a hospital - not dangerous but detectable. 2- One of my Doctors that was getting treatment himself.
Now that would be a surprise, your doctor being a source of higher levels of radiation.
Great informative video !
I have an older Geiger counter an after my nuclear stress test in 2017.
I videoed it pegging the meter when i held the probe to my chest as soon as I got home from it.
Its a short video, but I was surprised how hot I was from that test.
It's on my channel but not very great quality video.
It was and is the classic rock band Bad Company with the song, 'I'm Radioactive' everywhere you go.
When I received I-131 for cancer, I had to be isolated for months, couldn't be within 20 feet of kids and pets, adults had a 5 minute window per day for that distance pls I had all kinds of rules about cleaning the toilet after every use, not letting others do my laundry, had to run the washing machine empty after laundry all to keep radiation exposure to others at a minimum. I received the radiation in April and come thanksgiving I went to an uncles in NYC and the hospital had to give me a special letter on hospital letter head I had to carry at al times so that if I set off any radiation sensors in the city (post 9/11) I could hand the letter to law enforcement explaining things and giving them a way to contact the hospital my surgeon and Endocrinologist.
What you say makes perfect sense for passing someone in a sandwich shop. But how would you react if this person sat down next to you on a 6 hour flight?
I would be fine with that level of exposure. But if my daughters were with me I would have them on the other side of me.
My 6th grade science teacher had Stage 3 thyroid cancer and for a large chunk of the year, she was taking liquid Iodine 131 on a pretty regular basis. This was around the time the school switched to document cameras and VGA projectors instead of overhead transparency projectors, but she had to keep using the old overhead projector cause her neck was usually close enough to the camera when doing a lesson that it got super grainy and borderline unwatchable, and you could tell by the level of graininess how far away she was - whenever she walked away to grab a binder or something it'd clear up and look fine. On a lark, I downloaded a "radiation detector" app on my (extremely early) Android phone that had you cover the rear camera with black electrical tape, got sent to the principal's office one time cause I walked into class and had apparently forgot to mute notifications, so my phone started screaming at me.
Sympathy for the teacher, but it seems a little irresponsible to have that much radiation around children for so long.
@PsRohrbaugh I kind of agree with this. But the dose level wouldn’t be terribly high unless the kids were sitting right next to her. Radiation intensity drops off very suddenly.
@@PsRohrbaughyeah that is completely irresponsible, I doubt the parents or children had proper informed consent in the slightest
It's absolutely crazy the precautions you have to take with a cat who has I-131 for hyperthyroidism - two weeks almost total isolation at home (after 5-7 days as an in-patient) at a MUCH lower dose than a human - who can work around kids.
Generally speaking, folks who are getting these injections tend to be battling for their lives. There is no recreational purpose for these things, so yes, please be mindful, respectful, and maybe a bit more patient if they are short with others, because they are getting enough pain, anger, frustration, fear, and distrust from their own body, and don't need more from elsewhere.
Thank you for making this video. It shows the kind of compassion and understanding that we really need to see a LOT more of in our world.
Glad you enjoyed the video. I had a family member that had a similar treatment to do some imaging.
@@RadioactiveDrew As did my better half. You're a good man, educating folks about the realities of demons. Please keep doing what you do.
Yaaay new video!
I try and keep them coming as fast as I can. Have to balance making videos and family life.
I just came across one earlier in dollar general , i ended up walking out i will admit i was kind a nervous even though im used to some radioactive stuff. The range on the radiation was nuts reminded me of radium. My radiacode would of went off if i had stayed any longer. It started ticking up soon as i walked in .
Bro body is currently in a battle
Wow, that’s fascinating. I’ve heard of (IIRC) iodine 131 treatment for over active thyroid. Had not heard of Technetium treatment. I really should get one of those Radicode units. I have some old buses that used to have radium illuminated toggle switches in them. It would have been interesting to test them.
The iodine-131 used is very active but the Technetium-99m that is used for imagining is much more active due to its shorter half-life.
Unfortunately, working in the power plants, people do receive uptakes that are generally worse than anything here.
You can look this up, but a couple gentleman inhaled over 700 millirem in contaminates after a vacuum bag collapsed while cutting piping on the primary system at a facility 3 years ago.
It wasn't Tc-99 they inhaled either... We're talking cobalt and cesium.
I've never seen something like this happen as usually everything is so overdone safety wise with Radiation Protection.
I install cameras in reactor vessels and I don't even get near those kind of levels in year.
Now this is serious stuff.
NucMed pales in comparison.
I had a stomach emptying test a few years ago. Ate some food that a radioactive marker had been added to, then got scanned regularly for the marker. Makes me wonder what was used, how radioactive I was, and for how long. Very cool episode, Drew.
I'm hoping to do a much longer in-depth video about nuclear medicine. Would like to cover radioactive markers in that as well.
0.5 mCI of Tc99m sulfer colloid. The sulfer colloid nicely binds with egg protein. Free Technesium goes to other parts of the body you don’t want to see on a NM GASTRIC EMPTYING STUDY.
@@RadioactiveDrew You should see if the pr folks at GE / Phillips wants to show off their next gen ct scanners.
@@earlp6731Thank you, that makes sense, the food they gave me was scrambled eggs.
@TheCatherineCC I would love to work with them to show off some of their equipment. I think people would like to see what everything does when they are in for a procedure.
I had a PET scan recently, and when I told the tech I planned to see me 5 year old granddaughter afterwards, and I was told to stay 12’ away through that day.
Do you know what they injected you with?
My wife had a Tc-9M in a hospital and I took my Geiger counter in her room (a very large room in the cardio section) and when she came back it went wild when she walked in the room. Even at 20 feet you could tell the radiation was high. The next day she was still way over background. I should have used the measurements and time to calculate the half life. Later my cardiologist gave me a stress test and I was so excited I bought my detector with me but the test used chemical dyes and sonograms, no isotope. Later my wife had another test, no isotope, but I had my Geiger counter in my bag (where it was muffled) and I could tell each patient that entered the room that had an isotope stress test, many feet away through closed door.
I had a radioactive contrast injected into me when I had a PET scan i remember the nurse bringing this motorized cart into the room which I can only assume was lead lined and when she started the injection she stepped out of the room and stood in the doorway. I remember specifically being told not to go any closer than 6 feet to children for 6 hours. I have no idea what the contrast was but it sounds like it was this compound. I was told it was a radioactive sugar. When I worked for a airline I remember handling these little yellow boxes all the time. Hazardous goods. Didn't think anything of it
Right after these procedures you can be very radioactive. This guy I found might have had his procedure earlier that morning and had a little bit of time to calm down.
@@RadioactiveDrew it did surprise me a little being told to stay away from kids. I'll assume the half life was around 6 hours and within 12 hours it was insignificant
Heh.. I've found quite a few of them with my 101 & 102.. I even found the location where they store it before injecting :D
yes this also happened to me my alarm went off when my landlord would walk by my room, crazy scared me to death and yes my monitor R102 i bought because of your channel works awesome
Dude I live in placerville, im suprised! Lol right near diamond springs 😃
People that have had treatments like this are everywhere. Some places more than others of course.
I saw your video on the Trinity site and was looking forward to doing the open house in April, only to find out it was canceled due to budget cuts.
I had exactly the same happened to me, back in 2013. I was really p!ssed off as I had travelled from UK specially to visit.
Out in Placerville?! Bro! WOW! you spend a lot of time out west don't you?!
It’s where I’ve lived the majority of my life. I’ve been east of the Mississippi a couple of times. Spent more time overseas than in the eastern half of the US.
Great video! I haven't been carrying my 102 or 103 around with me, but I think I will start!
My nephew is one of the highly radio active people out there. The odd thing is he's never had any procedures or even been in the hospital in his life.
THATS A GREAT VIDEO !!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
My dad had a Tc-99m inject about a year and a half ago. When I checked him about 3 hours after the procedure, It set off the low level alarm on my Radiacode 101 the moment I turned on from the other side of the house. Holding it up to his side near his kidneys resulted in the 101 maxing out and displaying "> 1mSv/h".
Sounds about right. The activity of Tc-99m is very impressive.
What kind of scan? Tc99m is tagged to different radiopharmaceuticals. If kidneys were hot could have been bone scan or renal scan.
@@earlp6731 It was a cardiac stress test. They said that the Tc-99m would be excreted through the urine, so I assumed that kidneys would have a decent concentration as it was filtered out.
I’m definitely going to be carrying my Radiacode with me now
I don't want to ever need a tc99 infusion, but if I get one, I'm booking a cheap flight just to mess with the TSA.....
That would be interesting to see what they do.
Highly fascinating story about a highly radioactive person.
Glad you enjoyed it.
The first time i heard my radiacode 102 sound the klaxon... I was at costco, had just opened the freezer to check out their new chinese soup dumplings. It sounded just as I picked up the package. Nearly dropped them, but put them back on the shelf quickly. Picked them up again, no warning. Thought it was a fluke. Maybe it wasn't! I never thought to turn around to look at folks behind me.
Oh man, that would have given me pause as well. That's why its always good to re-check if you think you found something hot.
That is VERY INTERESTING. Why not making a specific video on what YOU consider DANGEROUS.. and explain to us WHY.. because it is relative to which damage you consider and which risk a given dose is. I hear you alot commenting : "that is not very dangerous" in your video many times. but it has something to do with DOSE, RATE, your health conditions, EXPOSURE and acceptance if cancer increase relatively I mean. Thanks you for your great videos
If I’m hunting for spicy antiques are the radacode a good option? And is there any advantage to buying be over the other and what about the new 103g?
The Radiacode can be used to find radioactive antiques. I find something that has an easier time detecting alpha, beta and gamma to be much more helpful. Usually uranium glass objects don't give off a lot of gamma radiation. But they do give off a decent amount of alpha and beta radiation. The Radiacode detectors are very sensitive to gamma radiation...but not much else.
Love my radiacode 102!
Haha! Diamond Springs! You were in my backyard!
I have family in Pville. I go there to do work on my truck as my brother is the only one I trust to do a good job.
@@RadioactiveDrew I'm in South Lake Tahoe. Radon is a big deal up here and I go into customer's homes every day. I want to get a radiacode badly.
I’ve been given the same radioisotope twice in the past three years or so. Once it was in a big and rather insipid serving of scrambled eggs, in an attempt to see whether my stomach is refusing to empty promptly: it often does, but not always, and the radioactive tracer showed the eggs showing up in my small intestine fairly quickly.
The second time: white blood cells removed from 50cc or so of my blood, Tc-99m added, returned to bloodstream to see whether they would cluster around an area that was supposed to have a lingering infection. They didn’t, strongly suggesting that the infection was gone.
I was in McDonald’s minding my own when suddenly my RadiaCode 102 started screaming. Not just my level 1 alarm but my level 2 alarm (I have fairly low set points of 10 and 100 CPS, but for my environment I don’t even reach 5 CPS all too often) I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I restarted my 102, and my app. Still going off. I didn’t get to track it down with the meter before it stopped going off. I didn’t realize it would be sensitive enough to pick up someone receiving radiation treatments, especially considering the distance I was from the customers. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it in the future. That could also explain a lot of “random” blips when I’m out and about.
Usually any big spikes like that is going to be nuclear medicine related.
I’m sure it was. It’s not often I hit over 1000 CPS. My peak was just over 1.5k CPS. I’ll definitely keep an eye out in the future and try to catch it.
I had a TC-99m injection for a cardiac nuclear stress test. As I was the first patient that morning I asked the medical tech that was doing the procedure about what they did and if they would mind if I could monitor the test with my Raysid and Radiacode 102. The technician was so delighted that I asked about it and I had a basic understanding of radiation, that she gave me a mini tour while she setup the "gamma camera" and calibrated it with their test source. As soon as they pulled the bottle from the lead pig for the injection both devices went into over-scale for readings. After waiting a short time for it to circulate through my system, they did the scan and said I was good to go home. I was advised that for the first 24 hours that I should not be around anyone pregnant or small children. Needless to say 45 minutes later when I got home, I could max out every meter I have at 10 feet! So for a little over a day, I was the hottest ☢thing in my spicy collection.
103G is the next Radiacode.
wish I would’ve ran into you in diamond Springs. I’ve got a really radioactive clock i’d love to show you hope to see you there one day. They’ve got really good sandwiches in there.
My mothers doctor put some radioactive liquid into her to run some tests on her. Shes had the radioactive drink, and an injection for cardiovascular.
I would poke fun at her, i would tell her she would be her own night light, or if she farted she would be the source of fallout. Or she's a walking xray machine.
She isolated herself until it was pretty much out of her system.
Those jokes made me laugh a bit.
lol I thought this was gonna be about psycho looney people!
This was a huge eye opener & a pleasant surprise 😂
Right at 2:40 "High speed photons"
10/10, most descriptive adjectives ever.
Mechanic in CA, kin to ya? Is you one a them CA transplants to MT that may have opened a movie rental shop but thought better of it and now specializes in movie house projectors??? If so, GLAD to see ya made it! Our family came to MT via WY in the 60s in the oil-field frat, now living in WI, but MT is on my mind. I enjoy you radio active TH-cams! Beckons to The Firm, “Radio Active”.