Second Radioactive Capsule Lost

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31161, 10 September 1966, Page 15

Second Radioactive Capsule Lost

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) WASHINGTON, September 9. For the second time in recent weeks a radioactive radium capsule has been lost during a cross-country railway shipment, United Press International reported.

The United States Public Health Service said the latest incident involved a tiny metal capsule an inch long ard ah eighth of an inch in diameter which was being shipped from Seattle, Washington, to Long Island, New York.

The capsule contained 50 milligrams of radium and was designed for treatment of certain non-malignant conditions in the nose and throat. The capsule was being re-

turned by railway express to the Long Island plant of the Radium Chemical Company from the office of a deceased Seattle physician.

Public Health Service investigators are still searching for a 300-milligram capsule lost some time between July and August during a railway express shipment to the same Long Island plant from Fort Worth, Texas. In both cases, a lead “pig.” a safety container for transporting radium sources, arrived at the plant without the radium. Dr. Donald Chadwick, chief of the Division of Radiological Health said that unlike the first lost capsule, the 50milligram capsule probably would not cause any discernible radiation dangers unless kept in close contact with the body. Dr. Chadwick warned however, that if the tiny capsule was broken, radium salts could be spread over a relatively large area.