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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 6
| Issue : 1 | Page : 73 |
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| Radioactive contamination in drugs: A pharmaceutical topic in a nuclear accident crisis - A concern |
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Viroj Wiwanitkit
Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae, Bangkok, Thailand
Click here for correspondence address and email
| Date of Web Publication | 12-Jun-2012 |
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How to cite this article:
Wiwanitkit V. Radioactive contamination in drugs: A pharmaceutical topic in a nuclear accident crisis - A concern. Int J Green Pharm 2012;6:73 |
Sir,
An interesting global public health consideration is the problem of a nuclear accident crisis originating from the destroyed nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. Since the radioactive nuclides that have leaked can be hazardous, this disaster is an important concern at present. A huge number of radioactive nuclides were expected to have been expelled into the environment after destruction of the nuclear electricity plant, and this has caused a problem of environmental contamination. The contamination in the environment may be an important source of radiohazards to human beings. Indeed, an environmental contamination post a nuclear accident, by radionuclides such as cesium 137, is a proven problem. Contamination can be expected in many things including 'drugs' Here, the author would like to discuss an important problem, radioactive contamination in drugs.
There is no doubt that radioactive contamination in drugs is a very important consideration in pharmaceutical science. [1],[2] Radioactive contamination in any pharmaceutical process is considered problematic and this is a point of concern in quality control. [3] As radioactive contamination is not acceptable, it is a rule that a general drug (not a specific radioactive drug) has to be free from radioactive components. Due to the good manufacturing practice at present, this problem is expected to be controlled. However, recent reports on contamination can be seen, especially in herbal drugs. [4] Undeniably, the contamination of radionuclides in many vegetables post the nuclear accident period is proven. [5],[6] In the post Chernobyl crisis, radionuclide contamination could be detected in many medical plant products, including tea and juniper. [6] Of interest, although a lot of care is taken with regard to foods from contaminated areas, [7] there is little attention paid to the drugs from those settings. There are many concerns about some drugs, to prevent or fight their radioactive contamination, but there is lack of concern about the possible contamination within the drugs.
As there are many drugs manufactured in the highly contaminated area (Japan and nearby countries) and exporting of those drugs to several countries is observed, the present question is, whether it is the time to set a system for surveillance of radioactive contamination in the drugs. There should be an effective quality control process for early detection of the contamination. Radioactivity measurement of drugs and herbal product samples from the contaminated areas can be a good approach. [8] This can be done as an international quality assurance system. [9]
 References | |  |
| 1. | Bansal V, Azam A, Prasad R. Uranium assay in milk and drug samples using solid-state track detectors. Health Phys 1989;57:985-7. 
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| 2. | Saegusa K, Arimizu N, Yamamoto T. Assay of radioactive contamination in short-lived radiopharmaceuticals (author's transl). Radioisotopes 1978;27:223-7.
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| 3. | Johannsen B. Gel chromatographic quality control of 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals (author's transl). Radiobiol Radiother (Berl) 1976;17:91-5.
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| 4. | Jevremovic M, Lazarevic N, Pavlovic S, Orlic M. Radionuclide concentrations in samples of medicinal herbs and effective dose from ingestion of ¹³⁷Cs and natural radionuclides in herbal tea products from Serbian market. Isotopes Environ Health Stud 2011;47:87-92.
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| 5. | Görür FK, Keser R, Akçay N, Dizman S, As N, Okumuþoðlu NT. Radioactivity and heavy metal concentrations in food samples from Rize, Turkey. J Sci Food Agric. 2012;92:307-12.
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| 6. | Nesterenko AV, Nesterenko VB, Yablokov AV. 12. Chernobyl's radioactive contamination of food and people. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2009;1181:289-302.
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| 7. | Bouville A, Likhtarev IA, Kovgan LN, Minenko VF, Shinkarev SM, Drozdovitch VV. Radiation dosimetry for highly contaminated Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian populations, and for less contaminated populations in Europe. Health Phys 2007;93:487-501.
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| 8. | de Ruig WG, van der Struijs TD. Radioactive contamination of food sampled in the areas of the USSR affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Analyst 1992;117:545-8.
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| 9. | Cooper EL, Valkovic V, Strachnov V, Dekner R, Danesi PR. Results of the intercalibration study of laboratories involved in assessing the environmental consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Int J Rad Appl Instrum A 1992;43:149-60.
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Correspondence Address:
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae, Bangkok-10160
Thailand
DOI: 10.4103/0973-8258.97137
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