Date: 11 April 2008

Location: Taiyuan, Shanxi, P.R. China

Type of event: irradiator accident

Description:

At a facility for irradiating traditional Chinese medicine, five male workers entered the irradiation room and were exposed to the 18 kCi cobalt-60 source. The workers were exposed from 5-15 minutes each, about 0.8-1.5 meters from the source. They developed nausea and vomiting about 30 minutes later, exhibiting facial blushing, blepharal hyperemia, and drunken appearance. All five were transferred to a Beijing hospital 14 hours after exposure. Two victims (doses 1450 and 340 rad) developed acute gastrointestinal radiation sickness with severe bone marrow damage; the other three (doses 250, 220, and 210 rads) developed moderate bone marrow radiation sickness. The 32-year-old worker who received the largest dose died 62 days after exposure of acute radiation sickness with multiple organ failure, despite having received stem cell treatments. A second worker (who received a 220 rad exposure) died 1.5 years after exposure of tuberculosis.

Consequences: 1 death, 4 injuries.

References:

• Guo, Mei, et al., 2014, "Severe acute radiation syndrome: Treatment of a lethally ⁶⁰Co-source irradiated accident victim in China with HLA-mismatched peripheral blood stem cell transplantation and mesenchymal stem cells," Journal of Radiation Research, 55:205-209.
• Wang, Zhi-Dong, Xue-Qing Zhang, Jie Du, Xue Lu, Yuan Wang, Rong Tian, Qing-Jie Liu, and Ying Chen, 2015, "Continuous cytogenetic follow-up, over 5 years, of three individuals accidentally irradiated by a cobalt-60 source," Mutation Research, 779:1-4.
• Yao, B., Y. Li, G. Liu, M. Guo, J. Bai, Q. Man, L. Qiu, and H. Ai, 2013, "Estimation of the biological dose received by five victims of a radiation accident using three different cytogenetic tools," Mutation Research, 751:66-72.
• Ying, C., D. Jie, Z. Xueqing, L. Qingliang, Z. Zhiping, and T. Rong, 15 Oct. 2012, "Biological dose estimation in five victims of a cobalt source accident and cytogenetic follow-up observation after one years," European Radiation Research 2012, on line [http://www.iss.infn.it/err2012/satellite/program/POSTER/Chen_ISCA10.pdf].

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Last modified 29 November 2022.
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