Date: 14 June 2011

Location: Stamboliyski, Bulgaria

Type of event: irradiator accident

Description:

During recharge of a medical equipment sterilization facility an active tube with a 3700 curie cobalt-60 source was withdrawn from the sterilizer, exposing five workers for 25-30 minutes. The workers were first medically examined 40 hours later. All five developed acute radiation sickness with estimated doses of 530, 340, 250, 190, and 120 rad (workers were, respectively, a female aged 44, a male aged 58, a male aged 58, a male aged 76, and a female aged 78). All but the worker with the lowest dose received bone marrow treatments in Paris, France. One patient (who had received a 190 rad dose) died of a heart attack one month later which is believed unrelated to the radiation exposure.

Consequences: 5 injuries.

References:

• Balajee, Adayabalam S., and Valeria Hadjidekova, 2021, "Retrospective cytogenetic analysis of unstable and stable chromosome aberrations in the victims of radiation accident in Bulgaria," Mutation Research--Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, 861-862:503295.
• Grégoire, E., V. Hadjidekova, R. Hristova, G. Gruel, S. Roch-Lefevre, P. Voisin, A. Staynova, S. Deleva, E. A. Ainsbury, D. C. Lloyd, and J. F. Barquinero, 2013, "Biological dosimetry assessments of a serious radiation accident in Bulgaria in 2011," Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 155(4):418-422.
• Hristova, Rositsa, Dimka Georgieva, Albena Staynova, and Valeria Hadjideko, 2018, "Assessment of cytogenetic abnormalities by FISH in lymphocytes from a victim accidentally exposed to cobalt-60," OBM Genetics, 2(4), doi:10.21926/obm.genet.18040.

© 2022 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 10 July 2022.
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