Many RSOs are not aware of how low dental exposures are and will routinely recommend removal from duties when it is not necessary from a radiation health physics standpoint. If you have any additional questions about the film badge program, please contact Col Bill Moore at DSN 473-2343. Technically, there are quite a number of variables that can affect the amount of vacuum delivered to the DTR for intraoral evacuation. If you believe that the vacuum in your clinic is inadequate and you want to test it, please see Attachment 1 . It is a diagram of a device you can assemble and use to test the adequacy of your clinic's suction.
Inches of mercury refers to pulling power.
More inches of mercury are needed for evacuating a viscous fluid like blood than for evacuating a thinner fluid like water. For example, eight inches of mercury is adequate for suctioning water and saliva, but 19 inches is better when suctioning blood. CFM is an indication of the rate of fluid removal or flow. Both of these parameters can be measured with the device mentioned above. I thought the federal services couldn't purchase an item if it wasn't UL listed.