[en] Nordion International Inc. is a fully integrated isotope producer with two reactors in Chalk River, Ontario and two cyclotrons in Vancouver. Nordion also has access to the 500 MeV cyclotron at TRIUMF in Vancouver and has radiopharmaceutical processing facilities in both Ottawa and Vancouver. This is a brief overview of Quality Assurance at Nordion's Vancouver Operations. Quality Assurance has been variously defined. A useful definition is that Quality Assurance covers all activities needed to assure that the systems of design, formulation, manufacture, control and distribution are adequately prescribed and adhered to. Quality Control on the other hand, is simply one aspect of QA. It involves sampling, testing, inspecting and approvals

[en] A general overview of a good Quality Assurance program will be presented with specific references to Nordion International Inc.'s QA program. Topics to be covered will include: facilities, equipment, training, raw material testing, manufacturing control, finished product testing, records and archives. Nordion's audit procedures with resulting corrective actions and documentation procedures will be outlined. Examples will be given of statistical process control and the use of teams as a means of moving responsibility down the ladder

[en] Radiopharmaceuticals based on cyclotron-produced isotopes account for approximately half of all radiopharmaceutical and associated cold kit sales to hospitals and central radiopharmacies in North America. This is due primarily to demand for Tl-201 as a cardiac perfusion agent. There are currently 15 working cyclotrons in North America dedicated full-time to production of the principal cyclotrons isotopes used in Nuclear Medicine namely Tl-201, Ga-67, I-123 and In-111. Three of these cyclotrons are new H^-machines whose construction was justified on the basis of continued Thallium demand. Future demand for cyclotron isotopes will depend on a number of factors but they will have a significant role in health care in North America for many years to come. (author). 8 refs.; 2 tabs

[en] Longwave UV irradiation of a frozen aqueous solution of khellin and thymine resulted in the formation of a 2+2 photoadduct between the 2,3 double bond of khellin and the 5',6' double bond of thymine. This behaviour is analogous to that of the furocoumarins and serves as a mechanism to describe the genotoxicity of the furochromones khellin and visnagin. These two compounds are phototoxic towards bacteria and fungi and inhibit mitosis and cause gross chromosomal changes in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in near UV light. For comparative purposes, 8-methoxypsoralen was also tested and was found to be more active than visnagin which, in turn, was more active than khellin. (author)

[en] Direct fluorination of aromatic nuclei is difficult since the reaction is usually accompanied by unselective, partial, or total replacement of hydrogen. By attaching the tri-n-butyltin moiety to one position of the ring one can achieve an enhanced reactivity and site selectivity toward electrophilic fluorination. The intent of this study was to demonstrate the utility of the fluorodestannylation reaction for fluorine labelling of aromatic compounds and to compare F/sub 2/ and acetyl hypofluorite as the fluorinating agents. Thus, eight stannylated aromatic compounds (1-8) were synthesized via lithium halogen exchange of the bromo precursor and subsequent transmetallation using tri-n-butyltin chloride. The stannylated substrates were treated with F-18 F/sub 2/ and -78⁰C and CH/sub 3/COOF at room temperature. Both reagents gave good yields of labelled aryl fluorides. Overall, acetyl hypofluorite gave more consistent yields (≅70%), while F/sub 2/ gave more variable yields (54-95%). This method is currently being extended to label more complex systems such as L-Dopa with F-18 for brain studies with positron emission tomography. The authors have successfully stannylated Dopa on the ring and fluorination studies of this substrate are underway