Introduction: In diagnostic radiology, the number of examinations is constantly increasing, and occupational exposure to radiation is closely linked to this. In order to minimise this, it is necessary to use personal protective equipment which is expected to be complete, free from damage and defects. Methods: The study was conducted on 64 lead aprons. Firstly, we tested four methods for detecting defects: visual and palpation examination, light examination, computed tomography (CT) examination, and diascopy or X-ray imaging. In the second part, we measured the dose for undamaged and damaged parts of the same apron. The study was conducted in the primary and secondary radiation beam. In the primary beam, we used exposure parameters of 100 kV for the voltage and 32 mAs for the current surge. In the secondary beam, we recreated conditions as close as possible to reality. We used two commonly used protocols and two field sizes for each protocol. The dose was measured at distance of 40 cm from the water phantom. Results: The most defects (16) were detected using X-ray or diascopic examination. CT examination revealed defects on 15 aprons, while visual and palpation examination detected defects on 11 aprons, and light examination on 6 aprons. In the second part of the study, we found that the average proportion of X-ray transmittance behind the defects in the primary beam was the lowest for Apron 1, at 0.5 %, and the highest for Apron 31, at 316.6%. In all protocols of the secondary beam, the smallest values were measured for Apron 1 (1.3 %) and the largest for Apron 48 (1643 %). Discussion and Conclusion: The results indicate that the most effective methods for examining PPE are those that use X-ray radiation - diascopy or conventional X-ray imaging, as well as CT examination. Regarding measurements in the primary and secondary beams, we found statistically significant differences between undamaged and damaged parts. This suggests that not all PPE is suitable for further work with ionizing radiation sources.
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