Accident: A sudden and unexpected event that interferes with normal operating conditions and can result in harm to the worker, property, or the environment.
ABNT: Brazilian Association of Technical Standards.
Accidental Exposure (Ionizing Radiation): Involuntary and unforeseeable exposure resulting from an accident situation.
Operating License: Operating license or authorization provided by the local health authority. Also called sanitary license or permit.
ANVISA: National Health Surveillance Agency.
Area Controlled: An area subject to special protection and security rules to control normal exposures, prevent the spread of radioactive contamination, and prevent or limit the extent of potential exposures.
Area Monitored: An area where occupational exposure to ionizing radiation is kept under supervision, even if specific protection and safety measures are not normally required.
Biological Safety Cabinet Class II B2: A cabinet designed to offer protection to workers and the environment from chemical products, radionuclides, and biological agents that meet Biosafety Level 3 criteria. It also protects the product or assay inside the cabinet from contaminants and cross-contamination within the cabinet itself.
Biological Safety Cabinet Class II Type B2 (according to NSF 49 concepts): A cabinet with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter with 99.99% to 100% filtration efficiency, average air velocity of 0.45 ± 10%, and intake air velocity through the front window of 0.5-0.55 m/s. All air entering and being exhausted from the cabinet passes through the HEPA filter, with no recirculation of air flow.
Braquiterapia: Radiotherapy using one or more sealed sources emitting gamma or beta rays for superficial, intracavitary, or interstitial applications.
Carcinogenicity: The ability of certain agents to induce or cause cancer.
Cell Cultures: In vitro growth of cells derived from tissues or organs of multicellular organisms in a nutrient medium and under sterile conditions.
Cytogenetic Dosimetry: Assessment of the absorbed radiation dose through the counting of chromosomal aberrations in a culture of lymphocytes from the irradiated individual.
CNEN: National Nuclear Energy Commission.
Colimador: An additional device to a radiation source that allows limiting the radiation field and improving imaging or exposure conditions for diagnosis or therapy.
Commission for the Control of Hospital Infection (CCIH): A body responsible for managing and controlling hospital infections.
Contamination Monitor: An instrument capable of measuring radiation levels according to the derived surface contamination limits set by CNEN NE-3.01 standards.
Controlled Area: See “Area Controlled.”
Dosimeter Individual: A device worn on parts of an individual’s body to evaluate the effective dose or equivalent dose accumulated over a given period.
Emergency Exposure (Ionizing Radiation): Deliberate exposure authorized by a competent authority during emergency situations exclusively to: a) save lives; b) prevent the escalation of accidents that may cause deaths; c) save an installation of vital importance to the country.
External Storage: The storage of waste containers until the external collection stage, in an exclusive area with easy access for collection vehicles.
Final Disposal: The placement of waste in soil, previously prepared to receive it, following technical construction and operation criteria, and with environmental licensing in accordance with CONAMA Resolution No. 237/97.
Fluoroscopy: Examination of an organ by forming an image on a fluorescent screen using X-rays.
Genotoxicity: The ability of certain agents to cause DNA damage in exposed organisms. Agents that induce mutations are called mutagenic.
Immunoglobulin: A solution containing antibodies against one or more biological agents, used to confer immediate and temporary immunity.
In Vitro Analysis: An indirect method used to determine the activity of radionuclides in the body through the analysis of biological material, mainly urine and feces samples.
In Vivo Analysis: A direct measurement method of emitted radiation, used to assess the body content or activities of specific radionuclides in specific organs. This analysis usually employs whole-body counters that detect gamma or X-rays emitted by incorporated radioactive elements at strategic points of the monitored individual’s body.
Incorporation: The action of a radioactive material at the moment it enters the human body by ingestion, inhalation, or penetration through the skin or wounds.
INMETRO: National Institute of Metrology.
International Symbol of Ionizing Radiation: A symbol used internationally to indicate the presence of ionizing radiation, accompanied by a text describing the use of ionizing radiation.
Ionizing Radiation (or simply Radiation): Any particle or electromagnetic radiation that ionizes atoms or molecules directly or indirectly when interacting with matter.
Ionizing Radiation: See “Ionizing Radiation (or simply Radiation).”
Licensed Installation: A facility or installation where radiation sources are produced, used, transported, or stored. Excludes: a) nuclear installations; b) vehicles transporting radiation sources when these are not integral parts of the vehicles.
Microrganisms: Microscopic life forms visible only under a microscope, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses.
Microrganisms Genetically Modified: Organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been altered by modern biotechnology technologies, especially recombinant DNA technology.
National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN): See “CNEN.”
Occupationally Exposed Worker to Ionizing Radiation: A worker who, due to their work at a radiative installation, may receive annual doses exceeding the primary limits for public individuals established in CNEN-NE 3.01 “Basic Radiation Protection Guidelines.”
Parasite: An organism that survives and develops at the expense of a host, possibly causing harm to the host.
Patogenicity: The ability of a biological agent to cause disease in a susceptible host.
Pia de lavagem (or simply Sink): Preferably intended for washing utensils but can also be used for handwashing.
Prions: Infectious protein particles that do not contain nucleic acids.
Quality Assurance Program: A set of systematic and planned actions to ensure adequate reliability regarding the operation of a structure, system, components, or procedures, according to an approved standard.
Radiation Source: Equipment or material that emits or is capable of emitting ionizing radiation or releasing radioactive substances or materials.
Radiodiagnosis Service: A medical establishment or sector that uses ionizing radiation for diagnosis through radiological images and/or radiographs.
Radioactive Material: Material that contains substances or elements emitting ionizing radiation.
Radioactive Waste: Any material resulting from human activities whose reuse is inappropriate or unpredictable and contains radionuclides in quantities exceeding exemption limits established by CNEN-NE-6.05 standards or another that may replace it.
Radiofármaco: A radioactive substance whose physical, chemical, and biological properties make it suitable for use in humans.
Radiological Protection: Measures aimed at protecting humans, their descendants, and the environment from possible undesired effects caused by ionizing radiation, according to basic principles established by CNEN.
Radioprotection Service: An entity specifically established to execute and maintain the radioprotection plan of an installation.
Radiotherapy: The medical application of ionizing radiation for therapeutic purposes.
Reservoir: A person, animal, object, or substance where a biological agent can persist, maintain its viability, or grow and multiply, enabling transmission to a host.
Risk Analysis: Evaluation and control of the radiological conditions of areas in an installation, including measurement of external radiation fields, surface contamination, and atmospheric contamination.
Sanitary License: See “Alvará de Funcionamento.”
Sealed Sources: Hermetically encapsulated radioactive materials to prevent leakage and contact under specific application conditions.
Sharps: Materials with a point or edge, used for piercing or cutting.
Simulation of Sealed Sources: Empty envelopes for enclosing radioactive material, used in brachytherapy training.
Storage Temporarily: Temporary storage of waste containers near generation points to expedite internal collection and optimize movement between generation points and the external collection point.
Supervised Area: See “Area Monitored.”
Teratogenicity: The property of a chemical, physical, or biological agent to induce abnormal development, either gestationally or postnatally, expressed by lethality, malformations, developmental delay, or functional aberration.
Toxins: Chemical substances synthesized by organisms that have adverse biological effects on humans.
Transmission Routes: The path taken by a biological agent from the exposure source to the host. Transmission can occur directly (without intermediaries) or indirectly (via vehicles or vectors).
Transmissibility: The ability of an agent to be transmitted to a host. The transmissibility period is the time interval during which an organism eliminates a biological agent to reservoirs or a host.
Vector Control: Operations or programs aimed at reducing, eliminating, or controlling the occurrence of vectors in a specific area.
Vectors: Organisms that transmit a biological agent from a source of exposure or reservoir to a host.
Virulence: The degree of pathogenicity of an infectious agent.
Waste Segregation: Separation of waste at the time and place of generation, according to its physical, chemical, biological characteristics, physical state, and associated risks.
Trained Worker: An individual who proves to the employer and labor inspection one of the following conditions:
a) training in the company as per NR-32;
b) training through courses conducted by private or public institutions, provided they are led by qualified professionals.