Radiation exposure from stress testing

[quietmedic]

Hey all. 

I used to do cardiac stress testing, and I was wondering...was that job actually safe?  I was doing standard Technetium 99 stress tests all day at that practice, which of course, involves standing next to and in front of patients injected with rest and stress doses of Tc99 for large periods of time.  I did my best to keep distance, but as anyone in the field knows, there's a lot of time spent right next to the patient taking pressures, keeping them from falling, running the stress machine, putting electrodes on and off, etc.  I could not find any data online, anywhere, about radiation risks to us stress technicians (only articles about the nuclear techs, who arguably might be exposed to far less patient contact).

Wondering if anyone had thoughts on it...I did wear a dosimeter badge most of the time, as far as I recall, and nobody ever alerted me to overexposure...however, who knows if they were even reading rhe reports. I don't think I ever saw any personally.  I wonder if those are still kept on file?

Any other stress PAs here have any thoughts on the matter? Any health risks in particular to watch out for in the future?

Thanks all.

[Nuke64]

The short answer, is no, you have nothing to worry about.

I'm not a PA, I am Nuclear Engineer who is considering a career change and saw your post.  Occupation exposure in any setting is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  Your dosimeter is changed periodically and your dose is measured.  Every year, you should be getting an annual dose report.  The current occupation dose limits are significantly lower than any dose that has shown any statistically significant impact on heath.