Exposure Monitoring: Pregnancy and Fetal Monitoring for Radiation Workers

Follow the guidelines below if you are pregnant and work with radioactive materials.

Exposure restrictions

In a declared pregnancy, both UC San Diego and the employee working with radioactive materials are responsible for ensuring occupational radiation exposure to the fetus does not exceed a total of 500 millirem (mrem) during the course of the pregnancy.

Caution: Do not work with millicurie quantities of volatile iodine if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.

Declaring a pregnancy

All information relating to the pregnancy is strictly confidential. To voluntarily declare a pregnancy (you may choose not to declare a pregnancy), contact Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S):

• Print and complete a Declaration of Pregnancy form.
• Send the form to Radiation Safety:
  • Mail Code: 0089
  • Fax: (858) 822-7763
  • E-mail: ehsrad@ucsd.edu

If you're not sure about declaring a pregnancy

• Read the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Regulatory Guide 8.13, Instruction Concerning Prenatal Radiation Exposure (PDF) for more information.

• Contact Radiation Safety, (858) 822-2494, for a confidential consultation.

Fetal monitoring

A dosimeter may be assigned to declared pregnant workers to wear at waist level to measure fetal exposure. If you are not required to wear a dosimeter but wish to participate in exposure monitoring, you can do so by making a specific request. Read Radiation Exposure Monitoring Overview for more information.

Reassignment of work or isotope use restrictions may be necessary if it is likely the fetus could receive in excess of 500 mrem during the entire gestation period.