External contamination occurs when radioactive material, in the form of dust, powder, or liquid, comes into contact with a person’s skin, hair, or personal clothing. In other words, the contact is external to a person’s body. People who are externally contaminated can become internally contaminated if radioactive material gets into their bodies.

Internal contamination occurs when people swallow or breathe in radioactive materials, or when radioactive materials enter the body through an open wound or are absorbed through the skin. Some types of radioactive materials stay in the body and are deposited in different body organs. Other types are eliminated from the body in blood, sweat, urine, and feces.

A person exposed to ionizing radiation (e.g., x-rays from a fluoroscope) is not necessarily contaminated with radioactive material. For a person to be contaminated, radioactive material must be on or inside of his or her body.

Most hospital contamination exposures to employees, other than those working in Nuclear Medicine, results from handling bodily fluids such as urine from patients injected with radiopharmaceuticals. Precautions already in use when cleaning up fluids, such as urine, are considered “universal precautions.” Universal precautions include gloves, and a hospital lab coat. Universal precautions protect general staff from radioactive contamination.

The use of universal precautions when handling human blood, human tissue and body fluids protects hospital workers from radioactive material contamination.

When working in nuclear medicine, wear protective clothing. Protective clothing includes closed toe shoes, and the covering of bare skin such as arms and legs.