Editing Positron emission tomography (section)

== Safety ==
PET scanning is non-invasive, but it does involve exposure to [[ionizing radiation]].<ref name="Carlson 151"/> FDG, which is now the standard radiotracer used for PET neuroimaging and cancer patient management,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kelloff GJ, Hoffman JM, Johnson B, Scher HI, Siegel BA, Cheng EY, Cheson BD, O'shaughnessy J, Guyton KZ, Mankoff DA, Shankar L, Larson SM, Sigman CC, Schilsky RL, Sullivan DC | display-authors = 6 | title = Progress and promise of FDG-PET imaging for cancer patient management and oncologic drug development | journal = Clinical Cancer Research | volume = 11 | issue = 8 | pages = 2785–808 | date = April 2005 | pmid = 15837727 | doi = 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-04-2626 | doi-access = free }}</ref> has an effective radiation dose of 14&nbsp;[[millisievert|mSv]].<ref name="Exposure" />

The amount of radiation in FDG is similar to the effective dose of spending one year in the American city of [[Denver, Colorado]] (12.4&nbsp;mSv/year).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://isis-online.org/risk/tab7|title=Institute for Science and International Security |website=isis-online.org}}</ref> For comparison, radiation dosage for other medical procedures range from 0.02&nbsp;mSv for a [[Chest radiograph|chest X-ray]] and 6.5–8&nbsp;mSv for a CT scan of the chest.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051015024328/http://www.icrp.org/downloadDoc.asp?document=docs%2FICRP_87_CT_s.pps Managing Patient Does], [[ICRP]], 30 October 2009.{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = de Jong PA, Tiddens HA, Lequin MH, Robinson TE, Brody AS | title = Estimation of the radiation dose from CT in cystic fibrosis | journal = Chest | volume = 133 | issue = 5 | pages = 1289–91; author reply 1290–1 | date = May 2008 | pmid = 18460535 | doi = 10.1378/chest.07-2840 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Average civil aircrews are exposed to 3&nbsp;mSv/year,<ref>{{cite book |title=Radiation, People and the Environment |chapter-url=http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/RadPeopleEnv/pdf/chapter_9.pdf |chapter=Chapter 9 Occupational Exposure to Radiation |publisher=[[IAEA]] |pages=39–42 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705155057/http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/RadPeopleEnv/pdf/chapter_9.pdf |archive-date=July 5, 2008 }}</ref> and the whole body occupational dose limit for nuclear energy workers in the US is 50&nbsp;mSv/year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/health-effects/info.html#dose|title=NRC: Information for Radiation Workers|website=www.nrc.gov|access-date=Jun 21, 2020}}</ref> For scale, see [[Orders of magnitude (radiation)]].

For PET–CT scanning, the radiation exposure may be substantial—around 23–26&nbsp;mSv (for a 70&nbsp;kg person—dose is likely to be higher for higher body weights).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Brix G, Lechel U, Glatting G, Ziegler SI, Münzing W, Müller SP, Beyer T | title = Radiation exposure of patients undergoing whole-body dual-modality <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT examinations | journal = Journal of Nuclear Medicine | volume = 46 | issue = 4 | pages = 608–13 | date = April 2005 | pmid = 15809483 }}</ref><ref name="Wootton 333–343">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wootton R, Doré C | title = The single-passage extraction of <sup>18</sup>F in rabbit bone | journal = Clinical Physics and Physiological Measurement | volume = 7 | issue = 4 | pages = 333–43 | date = November 1986 | pmid = 3791879 | doi = 10.1088/0143-0815/7/4/003 | bibcode = 1986CPPM....7..333W }}</ref>