The following information was provided by the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency (the Agency) via phone and email:
The Agency was contacted November 21, 2024, by GE Healthcare, to report that a [radioactive] Yellow-II package containing a radiopharmaceutical had been damaged in transit and was now missing its contents. GE Healthcare (Illinois license #IL-01109-01) reported shipping a shielded vial of In-111 on November 15, 2024, from their Arlington Heights facility to Heartlight Pharmacy Services in Lima, OH. The 10 mL vial had an assayed activity of 3.201 mCi at the time of shipment. On November 16, 2024, the package was scanned in San Francisco. Tracking details identified that the package was received at the Memphis, TN sort facility but after no movement, GE Healthcare contacted [the carrier] to determine the new delivery date. On November 21, 2024, [the carrier] confirmed that the package was being held in their over goods department as it appeared that damage allowed the contents to escape the outer package. A photo of the GE Healthcare product container was provided to [the common carrier] and a search for the missing product container is ongoing at the Memphis sort facility.
Tennessee program staff were notified the same day and are working with the carrier. Updates will be provided as they become available.
Illinois Item Number: IL240028
THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A 'Less than Cat 3' LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL
Sources that are "Less than
IAEA Category 3 sources," are either sources that are very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury. Some of these sources, such as
moisture density gauges or thickness
gauges that are Category 4, the amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly - although it is unlikely - temporarily injure someone who handled it or were otherwise in contact with it, or who were close to it for a period of many weeks. For additional information go to
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf