From: "JENNIFER SCHUMACHER" 

: Our lab has received a request from a researcher to process, embed, and
cut some kidney blocks which have been infused with "Iodine 125".  The gamma
counter reads from .5-1.0 MRI/HR, and the background is .04.  We do not
presently work with any radioactive tissue (other than SLN), so this is
completely unknown territory.  Could anyone help us out with the precautions
this would involve, and how we would dispose of the solutions used--or if
the processor will become contaminated??  Any help would be greatly
appreciated!!  Jen
:
The half life of Iodine 125 is 60 days so it at least does not present a
long term problem. Get in touch with your radiation safety officer on campus
for how to handle the disposal. Without knowing if the sample will
contaminate your processor processing by hand in the hood would make sense
to me and keep everything you use together and check all for radioactivivity
when you are done so the minimum stuff has to be handled as radioactive
waste.

Depending on what background of a radioactive safety officer he may be of
varying degrees of help to you. If you can find one with a biology back
ground they should be more helpful than one with an engineering background.
Every project that works with radiation has to have a radiation safety
officer. I don't think 1 MIR/HR qualifies you but a talk with a biological
radiation safety person should help you a lot.

Gordon

Gordon Couger
Stillwater, OK
www.couger.com/gcouger