Skin decontamination of commonly used medical radionuclides.

The increasing use of radionuclides in medical diagnosis raises the possibility of accidental spills and skin contamination. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of several decontaminating agents. Most nuclides were easily removed to levels of less than 5% of their original activity. Sodium pertechnetate (Tc-99m) was the most difficult compound to remove. Little difference was found between the effectiveness of tap water, soap and water, and two commercially available decontaminating agents.