2nd University in Trouble for Radioactivity

The University of California, San Francisco, will be cited for a “substantial” number of violations of rules governing the handling of radioactive materials for biomedical purposes, The Times has learned.

The pending action comes after criminal charges were filed Thursday by Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn against USC for similar alleged violations.

A senior USC official Friday insisted that the charges against the school and 10 researchers had been “blown out of proportion.” Cornelius J. Pings, USC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said that at no time was anyone’s health or safety endangered.

Meanwhile, Gerard Wong, chief of the state Department of Health Service’s radiation management section, said in Sacramento on Friday that his agency is debating a precise course of action to take against UC San Francisco. Its two major options are to file either criminal or civil charges in court or to administratively restrict the university’s use of radioactive materials. Wong declined to elaborate.

Another state health official, Gordon Stelling, confirmed the imminent action against UCSF. “We’re enforcing the regulations. We’re following the law. That’s all I can say,” he said.

But health department inspection records in Sacramento show that since 1981 UCSF has been cited for 20 violations of state regulations governing radioactive materials. Among those violations were improper storage and disposal of low-level radioactive wastes and failure to advise employees working near radioactive material to take safety precautions.

The citations put the university on notice to take remedial actions. More severe penalties could include restrictions on the use of radioactive materials.

Health department inspectors also said researchers and others at UCSF were eating and drinking in areas found to be contaminated by radioactive materials.

Word that a notice of violation would be served against UCSF came as a surprise to the university.

“That is a surprise to me,” said David J. Ramsay, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, when informed of Wong’s remarks. “Two safety officers were through about three weeks ago. They didn’t have time to complete their surveys, and they told us they would be back.”

Ramsay said the university’s programs that use radioactive materials are under “no restrictions at all” from the state.

“They last came through a year and a half ago, and they did find some problems,” he said. “We put in our plan of correction. As far as I know, that plan of correction satisfied the state.”

But William R. Vermeere, UCSF’s radiation safety officer, acknowledged that the university was in violation of several state regulations even before the most recent inspection. “There were a number of items of apparent non-compliance from earlier inspections, all of which we are working towards rectifying.”

Before Thursday’s 179-count criminal complaint against USC, the university had been cited by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services with 346 violations in 1981 and a total of 94 for 1982 and 1984.

The criminal complaint was filed after a more recent inspection by the state Department of Health Services in November and January.

“We believe that none of the alleged violations constitutes a hazard to the well-being of our patients, faculty, student body or community,” Pings said at an afternoon press conference.

The USC labs cited in the complaint are located on the Health Science Campus, which is adjacent to County-USC Medical Center. The inspections that formed the basis of the complaint covered only 10% of the labs that use radioactive materials, according to Albert A. Ferguson, a county health department nuclear and safety engineer.

Workers in the labs Friday seemed unconcerned about any radiation danger and appeared to be going about their usual duties, although the radiation department at Norris, where cancer patients receive radiation therapy, got a number of calls from concerned patients.

Pings said a large number of the misdemeanor complaints amounted to little more than a breakdown in performing required paper work, not a breakdown in safety.

He said there is “no question” that differing interpretations of state guidelines for the handling of the materials is a factor in the continuing problems between the university and the state.

As an example, Pings said some of the university’s isotope research is so new that existing state regulations do not provide clear guidelines.

Nonetheless, he announced that USC will open an internal inquiry.

Hahn on Thursday charged that the university had been “cavalier” in its attitude toward radiological safety regulations dating back to the 1970s.

The USC inquiry will be headed by Joseph P. Van Der Muelen, the medical school’s vice president for health affairs, and Solomon Golomb, vice provost for research.

It was Van Der Muelen who promised a series of steps in 1981 to address what he acknowledged as “the need for substantial improvement of the radiation and health and environmental safety conditions on this campus.”

At the time, the county Department of Health Services had found “a near-total failure of USC to fulfill its obligations under the regulations and the conditions of (its) license,” according to department documents reviewed Friday by The Times.

In another 1981 document, Van Der Muelen told county authorities that a separate laboratory had been established to test people who may have been accidentally exposed to radioactive iodine. Yet, Hahn’s complaint Thursday in Los Angeles Municipal Court included numerous allegations that the university still is not fully carrying out such testing.

In addition, records show that five of the 10 USC researchers who were charged Thursday were among 77 people cited in 1981 by the county for violating safety regulations. The five were: Peter Vogt, chairman of the department of microbiology; Michael Lai, professor of microbiology; Robert Nakamura, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology; Walter Wolf, professor of pharmacology, and Robert E .K. Fournier, associate professor of microbiology.

The others charged Thursday were Gunther Dennert, associate professor of microbiology; Joseph Landolph, associate professor of microbiology; Daniel Levy, professor of biochemistry; Robert Maxson, assistant professor of biochemistry, and Frederick Singer, professor of medicine.

Times staff writers Harry Nelson in Los Angeles and and Tillie Fong in Sacramento also contributed to this story.

COMMONLY USED RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES

These are the most common uses--and potential hazards--of the seven radioactive isotopes cited in the charges against the 10 USC biomedical researchers, according to Dr. Robert S. Hattner, chairman of nuclear medicine at the UC Medical Center, San Francisco, and Roland Finston, director of health physics at Stanford University.

ISOTOPE/POTENTIAL HAZARD Iodine-131: High-energy radioisotope often used in medical centers to treat patients with hyperthyroidism or thyroid cancer. Patients are usually treated as outpatients but must keep their distance from family members for several days to avoid contaminating them. Half-life of eight days, meaning that the isotope loses half its radioactivity in eight days. Iodine-125: Used in performing blood tests in medical laboratories. Less radioactive than Iodine-131. Half-life of 60 days. Plutonium-238: No significant biomedical uses. One of the most dangerous radioactive substances. Some say it might be used to study the toxic effects of radiation from nuclear weapons or power plant accidents . Half-life of 87 years. Americium-241: Sometimes used in experimental radiology research to measure the amount of iodine in the body. But rarely used in people. Half-life of 432 years. Cobalt-60: Used to treat cancer patients. Highly radioactive, therefore patients are treated in shielded rooms, similar to a bank vault, to protect medical personnel. Isotope is stored in a lead unit, which has a shutter which opens and closes. Half-life of five years. Californium-252: Used in radiation therapy research with animals, but only in a few medical centers. But rarely used to treat patients. Requires shielding with a yard of concrete. “The most dangerous radioactive source that can exist outside of a federal government weapons laboratory,” according to Hattner. Half-life of 2.6 years. Cesium-137: Very high-energy radioisotope sometimes used to treat patients with cervical or uterine cancers. Patients are hospitalized in shielded rooms. Sealed capsules containing the substances are implanted in their tumors for several days. Half-life of nine hours.