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Contact:
Environmental Health
  and Safety
714 W. Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-706-7055
Fax 410-706-8212

Physical Data:

  Pure Beta Emitter

Radiological Data:

• Critical organ:  bone (30%), body tissues (70%)
• Internal and external exposure hazard
• Dose rate to basal cells from skin contamination - 6240 mr/hr per µCi per cm²

Shielding:

• 1 cm plastic
• Do not use lead as primary shielding layer due to Bremstrahlung effect.  (may use lead behind plastic to shield x-rays)

Survey Instrumentation:

• Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC)
  • LS window:  0 to 1000
  • LS efficiency:  100%
• G-M Detector

Regulatory Compliance:

Special Considerations:
P-32 is the highest energy radionuclide commonly encountered in research laboratories and rquires special care.  Avoid exposure, do not hold tubes containing even small quantities of P-32 any longer than necessary.  Use a stand or holder if quantities greater than a few tens of Mbq (=1mCi) are used, and finger dosmeters should be worn.  The use of lead impregnated rubber gloves is also recommended.  Even with low density materials (plastics) the absorption of beta particles gives rise to relatively high energy Bremstrahlung which may require some lead shielding when quantities greater than a few hundred Mbq are being handled.