The Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon

Or, at least that’s what I might say if my blood were radioactive enough to set off security detectors. Around 60,000 Americans are currently under various types of medical treatments in which they receive small amounts of radiation, enough to set off radiation detectors such as those that might be used to screen for dirty bombs at the entrance to the Super Bowl. Evidently, “workers in the nuclear industry have dealt with the problem for years.”

Ken Clark, a spokesman in Atlanta for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has had a treadmill stress test every two years since undergoing bypass surgery 23 years ago.

His doctor injects him with a tiny amount of radioactive thallium, makes him run on a treadmill and then uses a gamma ray camera to monitor blood flow in his heart.

That can leave him slightly radioactive for up to 30 days and Clark knows to carry a note from his doctor during that time, especially if he visits nuclear power plants.

Yahoo! News has the story.