What Happens When a Radioactive Body Gets Cremated?

This story is something that’s been stuck in my head for the past couple of days, and I just knew that I had to write about it. 

A 69-year-old man from Arizona was treated with a radioactive drug designed to shrink tumors growing inside of his body. Unfortunately, he passed away two days later. His body was cremated without the knowledge of the doctors that administered the drug, which ultimately led to radioactive particles being spread all over the crematorium. 

The thing that caught me off guard was that this isn’t just an isolated case. In fact, researchers think that this may be a more common occurrence than anyone expects it to be. A thorough investigation was conducted to determine the potential danger crematorium workers face while doing their job. Significant amounts of radiation was found on common crematory equipment such as the oven, the vacuum filters and the bone crushers. 

Researchers examined a sample of a crematorium worker’s urine, and while it didn’t show any signs of a dangerous dose of radiation, it did contain trace amounts of radioactive material. The maximum Geiger-counter reading researchers could find on crematorium equipment was about 25,000 counts per minute, which is approximately an exposure of about 7.5 millirem per hour for someone working with it. This is not a level of exposure that is considered safe, but it is far below the levels necessary to cause radiation poisoning. 

Luckily, the radioactive element used in the 69-year-old’s injection (lutetium 177) has a short range and a short half-life. Any dangerous effects of this particular element couldn’t have spread very far or lasted very long. 

Still, this whole ordeal has shed some light on the need for new safety protocols regarding the cremation of remains. Most states (except Florida) currently lack the necessary rules and regulations to prevent the cremation of radioactive remains. 

What would you do if you were a cremation worker in this case? Would you get yourself tested to check if you were exposed to radioactive material or would you simply keep calm and carry on? 

If you liked this article, go check out some of my other posts: 

8 WTF Facts About The Super Mario Games 

Source(s): 

Image: Pixabay

Info: Livescience