The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and the SNMMI Technologist Section (SNMMI-TS) are monitoring potential job-related health risks among its members from occupational exposure to radiation.
The concern comes after researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, and University of Minnesota found that technologists who performed diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures had an 8% greater risk of cataracts than those who never conducted the exams. Rates were also higher for therapeutic nuclear medicine studies, according to the study published in the February issue of Radiology.
The findings follow a similar study published in March 2014 that questioned whether interventional radiologists were more prone to cataracts due to medical radiation.
SNMMI said in a statement that the current research "appears to be too ambiguous to come to a full conclusion that there is a true association of cataract development as an occupational hazard for nuclear medicine professionals"; however, the organization plans to monitor the issue and supports additional research in this area.
