RadiationDose.ppt

RadiationDose Radiation Dose One of the most confusing things about understanding radiation effects is visualizing “how much” radiation is involved. It is very difficult to keep the units which measure radiation straight. A number describing the amount of radiation means nothing without evaluating the units, but this is not easy. For example... ...try to match the letter with the amount of radiation involved in each example Amount of potassium 40 in the body Dose to Atomic bomb survivors You can safety hold this amount of alpha radiation One coast to coast flight A diagnostic X-ray (Answers: B, D, A, E, C... confusing isn’t it?) A. Billions of becquerels B. About 250 picocuries C. 2-10,000 millirem E. 2 millirads D. 0-5 Gy Commonly Used Radiation Units Absorbed dose (Gray or rad) Average dose Organ dose Dose commitment Collective dose Effective dose (Sievert or rem) Committed effective dose Equivalent dose Collective equivalent dose Committed equivalent dose Uniform equivalent dose Dose equivalent Collective dose equivalent Ambient dose equivalent Directional dose equivalent Individual dose equivalent Individual dose equivalent, penetrating Individual dose equivalent, superficial Dose and dose-rate effectiveness factor Man-gray Man-sievert Tissue weighting factor Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) Quality factor (Q) Fatality probability coefficient Nominal fatality probability coefficient Radiation weighting factor (wR) Linear energy transfer (LET) Radioactivity (Becquerel or curie) Each of these units has a different technical meaning. All are used by experts to talk about radiation. With so many terms, you can see why it is important to know what the unit means when you are evaluating radiation information. RAD REM Curie Becquerel Sievert Gray Activity The number of times each second a radioactive material decays and releases radiation. Dose (Absorbed) The amount of radiation energy absorbed into a given mass of tissue. Dose