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For radiological hazards what would be the control measures?

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jportz

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Posted 14 March 2016 - 06:06 PM

For the new HARPC hazard analysis for radiological hazards, would requesting irradiation statements and water test results from approved vendors be sufficient enough for the control measure?  I can't find specific information on where radiological hazards are besides water, soil, packaging materials.



JPO

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Posted 14 March 2016 - 08:46 PM

:oneeye:  :death:

 

Nobody looks like either of these two, you're good.

 

 

(I don't know either and hope there's more constructive responses later)



Charles.C

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Posted 14 March 2016 - 10:07 PM

:oneeye:  :death:

 

Nobody looks like either of these two, you're good.

 

 

(I don't know either and hope there's more constructive responses later)

 

Hi jportz,

 

I would imagine that the FDA will soon be obliged to specificly answer this question for you. Or for BRC perhaps.

 

Out of curiosity, is the USA environment known to be significantly more likely to generate radiological hazards as compared to other countries around the World ?  I presume a Global Ranking List has already been published ?.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


CMHeywood

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Posted 16 March 2016 - 07:46 PM

Possible radiological hazards:

X-ray machines for metal detectors.

Beta scanners or similar for thickness monitoring.

Smoke/CO2 detectors - they usually contain a small piece of radioactive material as part of the detection.

Radon gas coming out of open soil areas in crawl spaces.

Radiological hazards in water and/or air if near a nuclear plant.

Cross contamination from previous facility owner.  We had a potential foil supplier that was a Chinese aluminum mill located in a building that use to process nuclear materials.

Irradiation of packages for sterilization.



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Charles.C

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Posted 16 March 2016 - 09:15 PM

Based on the silence to my query in Post 3, can one assume there are in fact zero known significant locations in USA ?

 

Should simplify HARPC/ risk assessments somewhat.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


BrummyJim

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 08:52 AM

Post 4 - CMHeywood seems to have this nailed. A quick declaration; I spent 3 years working in H&S in the UK nuclear industry assessing radiological risk. Irradiated food is not radioactive, but the source of the radiation used is, so you need to look at sources of radiation.

Radon is unlikely, but in high radon areas (Devon, Cornwall etc. in the UK) you need to provide adequate ventilation to your buildings to prevent the build up of radon being hazardous to your workers.

Most of the hazards will be to your staff and not your product, so bring your H&S manager with you.



Charles.C

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 09:15 AM

Post 4 - CMHeywood seems to have this nailed. A quick declaration; I spent 3 years working in H&S in the UK nuclear industry assessing radiological risk. Irradiated food is not radioactive, but the source of the radiation used is, so you need to look at sources of radiation.

Radon is unlikely, but in high radon areas (Devon, Cornwall etc. in the UK) you need to provide adequate ventilation to your buildings to prevent the build up of radon being hazardous to your workers.

Most of the hazards will be to your staff and not your product, so bring your H&S manager with you.

 

Hi Jim,

 

Very interesting albeit presumably  OT from the OP's POV. (or perhaps not ?)

 

I noticed the attached supportive articles to yr UK comments. I found the 2nd link (2010)  rather alarming if fully corroborated although no specific food consequences were discussed.

 

I daresay a similar mapping resource  exists for the USA.

 

http://www.ukradon.o...ormation/ukmaps

 

http://www.independe...de-2047987.html

 

It did seem to me that several of the items in Post 4 are logical targets for PRP control.

 

The question of recorded hazardous events remains to be answered, particularly from a food perspective.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


jportz

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 03:44 PM

I did find the following information on the United States.  Not sure if it will help anyone.

 

https://www.epa.gov/radnet   (EPA RadNet )

 

The nationwide RadNet system monitors the nation's air, precipitation and drinking water to track radiation in the environment. Over time, RadNet sample testing and monitoring results show the fluctuations in normal background levels of environmental radiation. The RadNet system will also detect higher than normal radiation levels during a radiological incident.

 

http://water.usgs.go.../Map-Radium.png  (US Radium Map)

 

http://water.usgs.go...Map-Uranium.png  (US Uranium Map)



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jportz

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 04:02 PM

I also found this information from the FDA Website.

 

http://www.fda.gov/I...anual/UCM074576

CPG Sec. 560.750 Radionuclides in Imported Foods - Levels of Concern


moskito

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Posted 19 March 2016 - 03:10 PM

Hi,

 

from my understanding the risk meant is that from radioactivity and in ver special cases radioactive fall outs after Tchernobyl and Fukushima. In Germany and Austria we still can detect radioactivity in mushroom and other wild animals. There was a permanent surveillance after Tchernobyl and you find an annual report of authorities on development up to today.

In both cases legisltive limits were set for certain foods, border control started and we have done a risk assessment on raw materials and suppliers based on origin and the distribution. In the case of Tchernobyl we have had a drift to west and fall out in western countries , in Fukushima there was a drift to east. Nevertheless you have to answer the question whether your plam oil from Indonesia or your enzymes from Japan or ....are possibly contaminated.

Based on the results from border control and our risk assessment we have had several measures as a) collecting data b) switch to another origin c) incoming goods with certificate or own measurments ...

 

Rgds

moskito



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Charles.C

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Posted 19 March 2016 - 09:30 PM

Hi jportz,

 

Thks for yr excellent 1st link in Post 8. And the Maps (but pity that no specific limits are inserted, eg red implies ?).

 

I burrowed into the first one to get to -

 

https://radiation.ze...imported-foods-

 

After investigating the sub-links / "recall" search page for "radiology" I was unable to find any mention of recent events/incidents relating to locally sourced/processed  foods. The only vaguely related local item i could find was in this observation -

 

Food:
Food contains a variety of different types and amounts of naturally occurring radioactive materials. Although the relatively small quantities of food in the home contain too little radioactivity for the latter to be readily detectable, bulk shipments of food have been known to set off the alarms of radiation monitors at border crossings. One exception would be low-sodium salt substitutes that often contain enough potassium-40 to double the background count rate of a radiation detector.

https://radiation.ze...tive-materials-

 

I'm sure I must have missed something.  

 

@Moskito, i deduce from yr comments that the local   food situation is similar to the one noted above.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C




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