If necessary areas adjacent to the contaminated skin, especially open wounds and broken skin, should be masked. Skin should be decontaminated by washing and wiping from areas of lower contamination to areas of higher contamination. As a rule, except for decontamination of hands, or except in cases of emergency as agreed upon by the Radiation Safety Officer, all basic decontamination procedures below should be carried out under supervision of the Radiation Safety Office. Attempts to remove contamination, which resists basic procedures, must only be attempted under the scrutiny of trained medical personnel. Tepid water should be used to decontamination skin.
Cold water closes the pores of the skin possibly trapping contamination inside.
Mild soap should be used to decontaminate skin. Avoid using abrasive soaps and cleansers, highly alkaline soaps, organic solvents, and highly acidic or basic solutions. The contaminated area of skin should be washed for a few minutes at a time, dried and then monitored. After each decontamination procedure, the treated area should be dried with a fresh towel or swab, and monitored. All towels and swabs used in the decontamination process should be treated as contaminated material.