Danger From Cobalt Alloy Dental Implants?

Hi packrat561,

Since I was not able to get any searchword-coherent hits from this: [+cobalt +x-ray], I would think that it's not an issue. That doesn't mean that it isn't, just that there is not enough evidence that it is.

Mike

Thanks Mikerho,

Just reading your reply helped,"+cobalt+x-ray", like , "oh, yeah dental x-rays, probably not a problem". So, maybe it's the neutron radiation that does it and if your mouth is getting a dose then you probably have bigger problems.

p-rat

+cobalt+x-ray might be misinterpreted to mean: "cobalt AND x AND NOT ray".

Right you are! I know this. I would think that I would have had quotes around the x-ray, but I can't remember if I did that for the actual search. I'd already had a few pints!

To my knowledge stellite valve seats and discs are used in profuse amounts in nuclear power plants. Of course in some cases the valves are in the hottest areas.

My bet would be that the half life of the material is the concern. I had at one time posed the question to health physics as to the mercury in my hearing aid batteries and there was no objection to them. If you bring any other types of mercury into a nuke plant you are going to be in violation of some plant rule.

One thing that comes to mind about radiation control in a nuke plant, when you read the regulations everything seems entirely regulated and quite in order. I was working in one plant , I was leaning over the hand rail on the turbine deck and was looking down at a radioactive storage area (low level) and noticed a mouse crawling around in the area, not quite glowing but definitely getting contaminated. I can imagine that this also happens in other areas of the plants that have significant amounts of radiation and lord knows where it is winding up. Pretty good shot it is out there with the general public.

I have a mouth full of Mercury amalgam fillings. I presume these are not in violation of plant rules? Or becoming irradiated?

You probably are unless you tell Health Physics about it. The concern would be irradiation and that is what they are trying to control. They have plenty of mercury in the plant in the form of thermometers, but they know where they are and which ones they need to monitor.

I will say this if you get contaminated in the right place internally the decontamination process can be something less than pleasant for the contaminated individual. At the least your privacy becomes invaded.

The_curious_one,

You are right. No need to worry about Cobalt becoming Radioactive in filled teeth cavities. No chance of becoming a even a mild Gamma source unless you were part of the Chernobyl accident. Unnecessary fears are created and waek minds can simply get into fear psycho.

A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

While I doubt I will ever come close to knowing all, I do try to know enough to stay safe. Thanks for the explanations all have offered! This continues to be a great site for people to be able to get good explanations for a wide variety of topics.

You are right, however the amount of radiation required to turn the implant into a hazard will most likely toast the worker to a little pile of radio active dust long before the implant became a problem..... There are essentialy three types of alloy used in dental implants. Gold alloys (22carat), Titanium alloys and Chrome-Cobalt alloys. All are extremely stable and composed to minimise possibility of rejection and oxidation/rejection. The only alloy with some possible health risk is of course the good old mercury amalgum and then only if it is not mixed well before setting it into the prepared cavity which is lined first with and "insulator". (Bushdriver lectured Dental Metalurgy at Uni Johannesburg S,Africa back when Nixon told the truth.)

Co-60 is used as a source of Gamma Rays, which are widely used to sterilize biomedical devices. However, if anyone is in a situation where a Chrome Cobalt implant (dental or otherwise) becomes radioactive, that person will not survive the radiation level.

Ahh, finally a thread that is all coherent, true, and leaves nothing else to say.

It seems like a moot question to me, because nuclear plant workers (in the US) receive a miniscule dose of radiation annually (less than one would receive during a transcontinental flight).

Ah if life were only that simple. Your statement may be right regarding the sailors on a nuclear submarine or plant operating personnel.

The hitch is when you get into maintenance, planned or otherwise, you sometimes are faced with a situation where you have to use "jumpers". The methodology is to expose people to radiation doses up to and including maximum exposure levels. Lets say you have to drill out a broken stud inside the reactor vessel 6 feet above the water which is above the fuel. Depending on how old the reactor is you could be looking at some pretty severe radioactivity. So lets say your task is going to take 50 minutes and the dose rate is going to burn a man out (attain maximum exposure) in two minutes the arithmetic shows you need a bunch of folks, to further complicate the situation you can't sacrifice key personnel, so you have to train each individual to do his little piece of the action.

One thing you can not do is minimize radioactivity in a nuke plant. It is some nasty stuff and you had better not forget it.

Of course it is true that most dosing occurs during maintenance. I have only worked at one nuclear plant, but I think the following is true of most if not all US nuclear plants: 1) The maximun allowable annual dose for a worker is set by the operating company at a level well below the FERC guidelines. 2) Every worker's exposure is monitored rigorously and kept within these limits. 3) The radiation in every workspace is measured by health physics before a worker is allowed in. Whatever is necessary to prevent overexposure is done, from the use of elaborate shielding to strict limitations on the time allowed in the workspace.

I agree with everything you said.

Do you claim that the situation that I described doesn't exist? I didn't mean for that to be a negative statement. As far as it being true I have personally done it on at least one occasion, Memory tells me it was to do some NDE work on a feed inlet pipe, sparger I think we called them. I could copy and paste your statement right here and it would apply.

My point was to the other person that you can't take these statements about getting little or no radiation in a power plant, without a grain of salt.

All is not perfect in the health physics area as well, I have seen situations where the health physics people were just as contaminated as the rest of us when some xeneon gas (May not be spelled right.) got airborne and the first indication anyone had that it was around was when we started alarming the frisker's if we breathed on them.

Your statement is still true. Did I make myself clear? If not I'm going to have to give up.

Hey Dearheart ,

I for one am more than a little confused. I haven't worked in a nuke plant yet. But I did pass my NANTEL exam, a requirement to work in plants run by Florida power & light. Also I have been trying to read as much as I can on the internet. Probably not up to a high school level understanding of nuke physics but progressing. This is one of the reasons I posted the question, hoping to learn something from the responses.

So, back to your post. I get the impression that you're stating that there is the official party line, health physics, all documentation is in order , all dosages below max, and then there is the other dimension, parallel world that is more pragmatic , practical and rooted in the "real' world . Am I totally lost and have I misread between the lines?

Packdrill

I am not saying that there is any "official party line" everyone in any nuclear plant in the US is dead serious about maintaining all dosages below max. We are all human and the parallel world, if you will, does exist.

I have never (since 1970) seen anyone knowingly cause another person to receive an overdose. I have seen incidents that shouldn't have happened and in some cases may have been caused by an over zealous or neglectful individual. When these incidents did happen there was hell to pay.

The point that I was trying to make is when people make these general statements about getting less than normal background radiation while in a nuclear power plant, that, in my estimate is not very accurate.

If anyone tells you that there is no danger in a nuke plant it will not be a nuclear plant worker.

Otha, thanks for clarifying it for me. If i got it right , the risks have been minimized, but it isn't completely risk free. If that was possible,it wouldn't be practical or economically viable? Some of my research is towards allaying my wife's concerns regarding me working as a carpenter in nuke plants during a re-fueling or maintenance shutdowns. Thanks for your posts.

Packrat

When you go into a plant you will be educated as to personal dosimetry. Try to get as much out of that instruction as possible so that you can attempt to be the monitor of your own exposure.

The plant people will do everything in their power to keep you out of trouble and safe. Don't be embarrassed to seek assistance, if you have any doubts about any situation you find yourself in, just ask for help and someone will get things straightened out.

Lots of luck in your new endeavor.

Otha , thanks for the help.

Packrat

When you work a chemical plant or a refinery you are told what the limits are for substances you may come in contact with - however - When you work in several units which have different chemicals - what is the reaction between the chemicals? These are things you will not know because they and OSHA ignore these reactions.

When you have certain medical procedures, you are not told what your dose is. I went to Brunswick and set off all of their detectors and it had been three weeks after I had been injected with a radioactive dye!

In a nuclear plant, you are taught to know what is safe may be punished if you let yourself get overexposed with any substance.

I have worked in steel mills, refineries, chemical plants, co-gen electric plant, coal fired plants, concrete plants and many more, and only a few times are you issued a respirators, but you must be clean shaved! You are never monitored to check that you are exposed or over exposed to some substance combination. You do carry a atmosphere meter to check for hydrocarbons, oxygen levels, etc,

All OSHA plants have cleaned up their act but the NRC has more power and not one nuclear plant wants to be shut down because of any violation of exposer, injuries, or any other reportable incidents.

Yes you are much safer in a nuclear plant than almost any industrial plant.

jmart23,

Careful with half knowledge.

If you have worked in so many mining plants or chemical processing plants where there was a lot of dust from natural chemicals, and particularly paint industry, then you should have a whole body scan done at some nuclear plant environmental survey laboratory. It is different from surface scan. It looks at Radioactive substance entered thru your breathe into lungs and then other organs. These scanners are very sensitive and are housed in very thick steel chambers where natural radiation can not reach and affect the reading or are low background counting setups. In India every nuclear plant has these in their ESL and all people who work in plant are scanned regularly and we take no chances. Early detection of over exposure helps us plan and limit it to safe limits. Scanning takes few hours and is a slow process.

If you have never been scanned, that does not mean you are in danger. It is only extra knowledge procedure.

Radioactive dye is never injected unless some scanning procedures for monitoring of defective organs in body suspected of cancer is to be scanned by this medical procedure. Don't confuse yourself of fluorescence dye with radioactive dye. Fluorescent dye can be injected to scan your eye, and some dye of high density are injected to do proper CT Scan. Half knowledge can seriously confuse so never conclude by reading something you do not understand. Lot deeper knowledge is required even to understand these technical terms and their usage and purpose. Talk to expert when ever you have doubts.

I have several whole body scans.

I was injected with a radioactive agent to monitor my heart - then a few weeks later I went to Brunswick Nuclear Plant - That showed that I still had internal readings and I wa not admitted to work there at that time.

I since have worked in several nuclear generating stations on Steam Generator replacement projects.

Most plants no longer use whole body counts, they instead rely on the enter and exit monitors.

Mostly Thyroid is monitored for Iodine-131 and neutral Iodine is given as tablet. If external active agent is given then it is usually to see if part of the organ has failed. Did they do angina test on you to trace the functionality of your heart? This they do to see blockage, mixing of blood, improper closing of valves etc. If you are above 40 years of age then it is more for your health care reasons than anything to do with nuclear plant work.

Daily body surface contamination scans are OK and once a month or perhaps once a three month whole body scan is necessary as accumulation of radioactivity to significant level happens in long time and rarely in a day unless there was a some kind of accident like drinking radioactive water etc. or falling into a pool of radioactive water. Most of the short lived isotopes disappear very fast and are not of worry for their accumulation in the body.

The actual test was because I had A-fib and half of my heart was beating over three hundred beats a minute and the other part was beating sixty beats a minute.

There was no blockage and it turns out it is an electrical short circuit that is controllable by drugs.

I also cannot take sudafed as it speeds my heart to the three hundred beats per minute - just half of though.

jmart23

Such physiological problems are either by birth or are caused by blockage of arteries on the heart. Polarization of heart is affected and contraction expansion of heart is not proper and heart valves do not operate synchronously. As I suspected, it has nothing to do with your working in a nuclear reactor and is a normal health problem that can come to any one even by sitting at home. Reason for such complications can be very different such as smoking which first affects lungs, liver and then heart; alcohol which affects liver and then heart; diabetic and over weight etc. Now it is for your Physician to tell you exactly what is that has happened to your body physiology.

If your heart is beating faster, then it is in efficient for sure, and mostly it is in case of partially functioning heart, and some time is also associated with bulged arteries like balloons. Such person will also sweat frequently and will find hard to climb steps. Regular medical care and a proper surgical procedure may help. For bulged arteries operation is highly complicated and it is often avoided as arteries can easily burst under operation as they can not take the pressure of the blood once they come in open. Inside body they may remain OK for long.

I think, we are talking something away from this title topic. This comment is the last one. It has nothing to do with Cobalt or nuclear reactor radiation hazard.

Hi Shyam,

I have a related question. When I was studying for a test for nuke power plant access it mentioned whole body scans to ascertain a person's lifetime cumulative exposure. I thought that some interactions between radioactive particles or rays and the human body would cause changes in cells (ionizing radiation), but that there was no residual radiation. How does a whole body scan measure the total dosage a person received if there isn't a decaying particle present? Can they measure the total amount of x-rays you have received? If I have totally misunderstood this, please explain.

Thanks,

Packrat

Full body scans only check for internal contamination, NOT dose, two different things completely!

Hi jmart,

That's what I was thinking, that something like a decaying particle could be detected. How would one go about determining the dose, is it more in the way of an evaluation where you list your exposure?

Thanks .Packrat

Internal dose is counted for a fifty year period. 25 millirem - 50-years, you get this much walking in the mountains! You get more flying in an aeroplane!

A hot particle is very high in dose but is limited to a very small area of your body. Not to worry!

I have several (twitch twitch) no effects that I (twitch, twitch) Know of TWITCH, and no damage (twitch, twitch)!

Sparkle, glow, (flashlight is less dim than i am!

Don't worry you are not in any danger! Twitch - twitch!

Good one jmart, thanks for the advice.

On a boiling water reactor the sparger, feed water, and other nozzles can have a really high contact reading. I worked on some feed water nozzles with GE and the dose on the bottom of the nozzles was 30 R on contact.

But that was beta and gamma not the neutron bombardment needed to change the cobalt in false teeth to anything dangerous.

To all who have posted, thank you. I have learned some things from this thread.

GA To all, Dearhearts.

Packrat

The cobalt would have to near the reactor that is running at full power. The ionization is caused by neutron bombardment. And it your false teeth are being converted to CO-60 - you will most likely live a short time - a shorter time than it would take for the teeth to make any difference.

Hi imart23,

Thanks for the answer

Packrat

Thank you all for your posts, I am going to be away from the thread for about a week, will be back.

packrat out