PROTECTIVE METHODS IN RADIOLOGY 



W. BINKS, M.Sc, F.Inst.P. 

 Physics Dit^ision, ISational Physical Laboratory, Teildington, 



Middlesex 



Introduction 



WITHIN a few years of the discovery of X-rays and 

 radium, it had been estabHshed that the rays might be 

 injurious to the health of the user. Many workers, 

 through ignorance or indifference, developed burns and derma- 

 titis, while some even lost their lives. In 1915, following a dis- 

 cussion on protection for X-ray workers, the Rontgen Society 

 devised a set of suggestions regarding safety measures, but 

 during the next few years, due either to continued indifference 

 of the workers or to a large increase in the amount of X-ray 

 work undertaken by hospitals as a result of the war of 1914-18, 

 there occurred a series of fatalities which greatly disturbed public 

 opinion. This led to the formation in 1921 of the British X-ray 

 and Radium Protection Committee, which issued its preliminary 

 report (Memorandum Xo. 1) in July, 1921. Other committees 

 were set up at about the same time in other countries, e.g., the 

 Safety Committee of the American Roentgen Ray Society, and 

 the Commission du Radium, initiated by the Academic de 

 Medecine. 



The preliminary report of the British Committee not only 

 indicated the way to ensure efficient protection against X-rays 

 and radium gamma rays, but also drew attention to the necessity 

 for suitable working conditions, condemning the practice of 

 locating X-ray departments below ground level, where natural 

 lighting and ventilation were often inadequate. In Memorandum 

 No. 2, issued In' the committee in December, 1921, heads of 

 X-ray departments of hospitals and other institutions were 

 strongly advised to safeguard themselves and their staffs by 



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