Answer to Question #11454 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Pregnancy and Radiation — Proximity to radioactive persons

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

Q

My wife is six weeks pregnant. She lives in the same house with her mother, who had a radionuclide stress test. Are there any precautions we should take? Will the amount of radiation her mother received affect the surroundings and the baby?

A

The radiation will not affect the surroundings or the baby. You mentioned a stress test, so we know that the radionuclide used to do that test would be gone from her mother in a few hours (the radionuclide was probably technetium-99m [99mTc]). And even during the few hours when a little bit of radioactivity might still remain, it is not enough to cause any harmful effects.

The baby will not be affected by your wife living with her mother after her mother's stress test.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist

Answer posted on 17 January 2016. The information posted on this web page is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may affect the applicability of concepts, materials, and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice. To the best of our knowledge, answers are correct at the time they are posted. Be advised that over time, requirements could change, new data could be made available, and Internet links could change, affecting the correctness of the answers. Answers are the professional opinions of the expert responding to each question; they do not necessarily represent the position of the Health Physics Society.