AN UNUSUAL CAUSE OF GAMMA CAMERA CONTAMINATION.

This report is of an unusual case of radioactive contamination of a gamma camera after scanning two individuals who had been treated 3 days prior with ablative doses of radioiodine (I) for thyroid cancer. A combination of observed half-life and pulse-height spectroscopy were employed to identify the radio-contaminant. The source of the contamination was eventually found to be a single human hair, presumably contaminated by the individual sucking her hair while waiting for the scan to start.