Study suggest successive exposure to radiation may results to cancer! And, when it comes to doctors and medical practitioners this is a genuine threat since they need to work tremendous hours in the face of radiation.
So, medical practitioners require protective equipment to stay safe from this potent threat. There are lots of equipment out there in the market for the measure.
Some of them are:
- Lead aprons.
- Lead gloves.
- Eye glass.
- Thyroid shield
- Etc.
And, in this post I will share about one of them “lead aprons”.
Lead apron is a protective clothing for workers exposed to radiation, which is dangerous to health. The aprons are worn over the clothes and help protect the workers from the harmful effects of radiation. It can be used in different industries like mining, construction, nuclear power, medical and many others.
Got many more to share. Let’s dig into it.
What is a lead apron?
Lead apron is a protective medical clothing that shields people who are at the risk of radiation exposure. Lead aprons are mostly used in medical facilities where doctors, patients, nurses and other technicians are vulnerable to x-ray radiation.
Lead apron is comparatively thicker and 100% made out of lead. There are different classes of it based on the composition.
Parts of a lead apron
- Head protector
- Face shield
- Front cover
- The lower shield
- Arm and shoulder cover
- Belt
Major Use Cases of Lead Aprons
Lead aprons are used mostly in the medical field. Due to the risk of getting x-ray exposure, medical studs are more vulnerable to radiation.
Here are some of the uses of lead aprons in medical field:
- Dental surgery.
- Fluoroscopy.
- X-ray.
- CT scan.
- MRI.
- Anything else related to radiation.
Why Lead Aprons Are Necessary: Benefits of Lead Aprons
When x-ray beams are within six feet of a patient, a lead apron is worn over their body as a layer of protection. If x-ray beams are within three feet of a person, an additional thyroid shield must be worn. X-rays cannot penetrate the body when wearing lead aprons. Although lead aprons do not stop x-rays entirely, they do absorb 90 to 95 percent of x-ray beams.
What makes x-rays so dangerous that lead aprons should be worn? Indeed. Radiation exposure to reproductive organs is reduced when lead aprons are worn. It is possible for a patient’s reproductive organs to be exposed to genetic mutations if lead protection is not provided. These mutations could be passed on to any children the patient may have. X-rays do not produce the same level of radiation that is required to damage genetic material as a typical genetic mutation. Lead aprons reduce radiation exposure to a relatively small extent, and provide additional peace of mind for patients.
Conclusion
Lead apron can effectively protect you from any sort of medical related radiation. Studies suggest that medical radiation mostly x-ray radiation might be little apparently but successive exposure of it may bring catastrophe.
So, the use of lead protection aprons to stay safe from x-ray radiation is cardinal. While the paramount importance of being safe in the face of radiation you also need to carefully purchase radiation protection lead aprons since there are a lot of them out there in the market with poor quality which might not work properly and heightened your health risk.
That said, throughout the post I tried to present many aspects of lead aprons including what it is, use cases of it and why lead aprons are absolutely indispensable to medical practitioners.
Yet, if anything got answered your thoughts in the comment box will be appreciated.