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Antecedents and objective: The knowledge of the reference levels for diagnoses and therapeutic studies is important, because it contributes to the optimization of the radiological protection of the patients, avoiding them to be exposed to unnecessarily high doses. However, there was no evidence of these levels in interventionist cardiology procedures in Ecuador, so the objective of this study was to estimate the diagnostic reference levels of dose at the entrance surface in adult patients under-going interventional cardiology procedures (cinecoronariography, catheterization and coronary percutaneous interventionism) in the Unit of Hemodynamic of the Hospital of Specialties Carlos Andrade Marín in Ecuador. Materials and methods: The measurements of product dose-area, dose in input surface, number of images and the time of fluoroscopy performed using the Axiom Artis angiographer, and the obtained data was tabulated and processed with the Excel computer program. For this study, 145 patients older than 18 years were selected, and the values obtained from diagnostic reference dose levels were compared with others reported in previous investigations and with the permissible limits for the appearance of deterministic effects on the skin. Results: This study made it possible to establish reference levels for diagnosis in interventional cardiology procedures (coronary angiography, catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention) in the Hemodynamics Unit of the Carlos Andrade Marín Specialty Hospital in Ecuador. Conclusions: The results showed that the intake surface doses obtained were lower than the maximum levels recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, soil samples mainly used for rice crops in the countryside La Esperanza, Villavicencio municipality, were analyzed. These soils are irrigated with water from the Guatiquía River, which runs through the city of Villavicencio. The extraction and quantification were based on the methods described in the Colombian technical standard 3388 and 3934 respectively. Since nowadays in Colombia the reference level for metal concentration in soil is undefined, an international standard norm was used to determine the degree of soil pollution. The results showed that concentrations of the tested metals (cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc) are below the levels allowed by international standards. This study is one of the first advances in determining the reference level of these metals in agricultural soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]