On September 13, 1987, a capsule containing Cs-137 was removed from an abandoned medical device in Goiânia, triggering the largest radiological accident in history outside a nuclear facility. The radioactive material was in a radiotherapy device that had been abandoned on private property.
The accident resulted in the death of four people and left 249 people identified as contaminated by radiation. Additionally, more than 112,000 people had to be monitored due to potential exposure to the radioactive material.
Cs-137 is a dangerous radioactive material that emits gamma radiation, being extremely harmful to human health when there is direct exposure or contact with the material. The Goiânia accident is considered to this day one of the most severe cases of radioactive contamination in an urban area in the world.
