Radioactive capsule found in Australia could be lethal with prolonged exposure, expert says

PERTH, Australia — The health consequences of coming into contact with a coin-sized radioactive capsule that was lost in Western Australia and has since been recovered could potentially be serious, experts say.

Cesium-137 is a man-made fission project that is often used in radiology labs as well as in industrial settings, such as within sensors in mining, said Angela Di Fulvio, assistant professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. ABC news.

A view shows a radioactive capsule lying on the ground near Newman, Australia on February 1, 2023.

Western Australia Fire and Emergency Department

A tiny capsule filled with caesium-137, 8 millimeters high and 6 millimeters in diameter, was found on the side of a remote highway on Wednesday afternoon, six days after it went missing in Western Australia.

“If you take into account the scope of the study area, finding this object was a monumental task, the search teams literally found a needle in a haystack,” State Emergency Management Secretary Stephen Dawson said during a press conference on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

According to the Western Australian Fire and Emergency Department, emergency responders and radiation safety officials frantically searched for the capsule along a busy 22-mile cargo route in the Pilbara, Midwest Gascoigne, Goldfields Midlands and Perth Metropolitan regions.

Search parties moved north and south along the Great Northern Highway at low speed in hopes of finding the capsule, DFES said in a statement. According to the agency, DFES search teams also used radiation instruments to detect gamma radiation and radiation levels to try to find the capsule.

The capsule was lost in transit from the Rio Tinto mine north of Newman to the northeastern suburbs of Perth (870 miles).

According to the Associated Press, officials believe a screw loosened inside the large pressure gauge and the device fell through the hole. The capsule was packaged in accordance with radiation safety regulations, officials said.

The capsule contained materials that are “a million times more active” than those used in the lab, Di Fulvio said, calling it a “very active” source. 1.665 millisieverts per hour, the unit used to measure radiation falling 1 meter from a source, is comparable to about 17 chest x-rays, according to Di Fulvio.

Prolonged close exposure to the capsule — for example, if someone picks it up and puts it in their pocket — can cause serious and even potentially fatal health effects within hours, according to Di Fulvio.

She added that erythema, or redness of the skin, would be one of the first symptoms, and the severity of the effects increased dramatically with time of exposure.

Exposure to a radioactive substance can also cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, according to DFES.

Officials have warned the public to stay at least 5 meters or about 16 feet away from him and not to touch him if they see something that could be the material.

Andrew Robertson, Western Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, said officials were concerned that an unsuspecting party might take an item without knowing what it is and keep it, AP reported.

“I’m sure they can find her,” she said before opening the capsule.

The capsule was packaged on Jan. 10 for shipment to Perth for repairs, and the capsule package arrived in Perth on Jan. 16, where it was unloaded and stored in a licensed service provider’s secure radiation storage facility, according to DFES. .

When the sensor was unpacked for inspection on Jan. 25, inspectors found that the sensor had been broken into pieces, DFES said. One of the four mounting bolts was missing, as was the radiation source itself and all the screws on the sensor.

Police said the missing capsule case was an accident and that they probably won’t prosecute, AP reported. The investigation will look at how the capsule was packaged and transported.

Copyright © 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures.

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