HPA-CRCE-030 - An Investigation of Monitoring by Nose Blow Sampling

Synopsis

Nose blow sampling has long been used in special individual monitoring to identify people who may have received radionuclide intakes after a suspected incident. However, experience of such occupational monitoring has shown that the activities cleared by nose blows produced on-demand have little relationship to the magnitude of the intake. In contrast, a human volunteer study of nasal deposition and clearance has found that the activities of nose blow samples produced at will by the participants do show a relationship to the activity initially deposited in the extra-thoracic (ET) airways which depends on the time between intake and nose blow. A pilot study has therefore been conducted to investigate if a method of nose blow sampling can be developed that can give a quick and simple estimate of the order of magnitude of a suspected intake and to resolve the differences between the volunteer study findings and the results of occupational monitoring. As the key difference between nose blows produced at will and on-demand seems to be the presence or absence of mucus in the nasal passage, benign methods of stimulating mucus production have been investigated. Volunteer studies showed that by stimulating mucus production before nose blowing, the activities of the nose blows produced on-demand could be used to make an estimate of the initial ET deposition, if the time between intake and nose blow is known. The development of a robust and simple occupational monitoring methodology, taking into account the uncertainties arising from its use in an operational environment, is now being considered. Application as an emergency response rapid screening method is also being considered.
 

Last reviewed: 12 January 2012