What does a personal contamination monitor (PCM) do?

• A. Monitors the entire body, is more sensitive, detects very low levels of radioactive material
• B. Measures ambient dose rate in air
• C. Checks clothing only
• D. Detects airborne radioactive gas

Answer: (A)

A personal contamination monitor is worn to detect contamination on the worker’s skin and outer clothing, with high sensitivity to very small amounts of removable radioactive material. This lets you know when contamination has occurred so you can decontaminate promptly and prevent spread or ingestion. It is not used to measure ambient dose rate in air, nor to detect airborne radioactive gas, and it captures contamination on the body beyond just clothing.