Effect of low-dose ionizing radiation on blood indexes of radiation staff

Objective To investigate the effect of low-dose ionizing radiation on blood indexes of radiation staff.

Methods A total of 211 radiation staff with radiological diagnosis and interventional radiology in a hospital in Wuhan were investigated. Their annual personal doses for radiation in 2017 and occupational health examination data in the early 2018 were collected. According to the types of work, the subjects were divided into radiological diagnosis group (n=104) and interventional radiology group (n=107). Two independent samples t test were used to compare the blood routine and blood biochemical indexes of these two groups, and the linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the exposure dose and blood routine and biochemical indicators.

Results The mean dose of individual dose(0.16±0.21)mSv in the interventional radiology group was significantly higher than that in the radiological diagnosis group(0.09±0.07) mSv, and the creatinine (Cr) value in the interventional radiology group(81.00±15.43)μmol/L was higher than that in the radiological diagnosis group(73.18±13.31)μmol/L(P < 0.05). However, the differences of other blood indicators were not statistically significant. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the number of lymphocyte decreased by 0.73 units (P < 0.05) for each unit increase in annual dose. No correlation was found between blood routine test and other biochemical indexes and annual dose.

Conclusion The radiation exposure dose and blood creatinine level of interventional radiation staff were higher than those of radiologists. Low-dose ionizing radiation may have negative effect on blood routine lymphocyte parameters.