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When ionizing radiation penetrates the human body or an object, it deposits energy. The energy
absorbed from exposure to radiation is called a dose. Radiation dose quantities are described in
three ways: absorbed, equivalent, and effective.
Dose Quantaties
Dose Quantaties: Absorbed dose, energy deposited in a kilogram of a substance by radiation.
Equivalent dose, absorbed dose weighted for the degree of the effect of different radiations
(radiation weighting factor wr). Effective dose, equivalent dose weighted for susceptibility to
effect of different tissues (tissue weighting factor wt).
Absorbed dose
The amount of energy deposited in a substance (e.g., human tissue), is called the absorbed
dose. The absorbed dose is measured in a unit called the gray (Gy). A dose of one gray is
equivalent to a unit of energy (joule) deposited in a kilogram of a substance.
Equivalent dose
When radiation is absorbed in living matter, a biological effect may be observed. However, equal
absorbed doses will not necessarily produce equal biological effects. The effect depends on the
type of radiation (e.g., alpha, beta, gamma, etc) and the tissue or organ receiving the radiation.
For example, 1 Gy of alpha radiation is more harmful to tissue than 1 Gy of beta radiation.
A radiation weighting factor (wR) is used to equate different types of radiation with different
biological effectiveness. This weighted absorbed quantity is called the equivalent dose and is
expressed in a measure called the sievert (Sv). This means that 1 Sv of alpha radiation will have
the same biological effect as 1 Sv of beta radiation.
Because doses to workers and the public are so low, most reporting and dose measurements use
the terms millisievert (mSv) andmicrosievert (Sv) which are 1/1000 and 1/1000000 of a sievert
respectively. These smaller units of the sievert are more convenient to use in occupational and
public settings.
To obtain the equivalent dose, the absorbed dose is multiplied by a specified radiation weighting
factor (wR). The equivalent dose provides a single unit which accounts for the degree of harm of
different types of radiation.
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Effective dose
Tissue/Organ sensitivity
Tissue/Organ sensitivity. Tissue weighting factor wt. Gonads, 0.2. Bone marrow, 0.12. Colon,
0.12. Lung, 0.12. Stomach, 0.12. Bladder, 0.05. breast, 0.05. Liver, 0.05. Oesophagus, 0.05.
Thyroid, 0.05. Skin, 0.01. Bone surface, 0.01.
Different tissues and organs have different radiation sensitivities. For example, bone marrow is
much more radiosensitive than muscle or nerve tissue. To obtain an indication of how exposure
can affect overall health, the equivalent dose can be multiplied by a factor related to the risk for
a particular tissue or organ. This multiplication provides the effective dose absorbed by the body.
The unit used for effective dose is also the sievert.
As a simple example, if someone's stomach and bladder are exposed separately to radiation, and
the equivalent doses to the tissues are 100 and 70 mSv respectively, the effective dose is: (100
mSv x 0.12) + (70 x 0.05) = 15.5 mSv. The risk of harmful effects from this radiation is equal to
15.5 mSv received uniformly through the whole body.
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Sources and Average Effective Dose from Natural Background Radiation in Selected
Canadian Cities
In all, natural radiation accounts for approximately 60% of our annual dose. Medical procedures
account for roughly 40% of our annual radiation.
1
Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the United States", NCRP Report No. 160,
2009
2
Brenner and Hall (2007)
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Dose limits
The Canadian Radiation Protection Regulations set limits on the amount of radiation the public
and nuclear energy workers may receive.
In Canada, the effective dose limits for the public is 1 mSv in one calendar year. Regular
reporting and monitoring demonstrates the average annual effective doses to the public from
activities licensed by the CNSC range from 0.001 to 0.1 mSv per year.
Data taken from licensees' environmental monitoring data reports, as submitted to the CNSC.
The effective dose limits for a nuclear energy worker is set at 50 mSv in any one year and 100
mSv in five consecutive years. The dose limit for pregnant workers is 4 mSv from the time the
pregnancy is declared to the end of the term. In addition, licensees must ensure that all doses
are as low as reasonably achievable, social and economic factors being taken into account
( ALARA). Regular reporting and monitoring demonstrate the average annual doses to the most
exposed workers (e.g., industrial radiographer) are approximately 5 mSv per year.
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In Canada, the regulations, standards and practices to protect people and workers from radiation
that are not regulated by the CNSC are implemented by Health Canada, Human Resources and
Skills Development Canada, the Department of National Defence, and provincial/territorial
governments.
One way of characterizing the central axis dose distribution is to normalize dose at depth with
respect to dose at a reference depth. The quantity percentage (or simply percent) depth dose may
be defined as the quotient, expressed as a percentage, of the absorbed dose at any depth d to the
absorbed dose at a fixed reference depth d0, along the central axis of the beam
The percentage depth dose (beyond the depth of maximum dose) increases with beam energy.
Higher-energy beams have greater penetrating power and thus deliver a higher-percentage depth
dose (Fig. 9.3). If the effects of inverse square law and scattering are not considered, the percentage
depth dose variation with depth is governed approximately by exponential attenuation. Thus, the
beam quality affects the percentage depth dose by virtue of the average attenuation coefficient .2
As the decreases, the more penetrating the beam becomes, resulting in a higher percentage depth
dose at any given depth beyond the build-up region
For a sufficiently small field one may assume that the depth dose at a point is effectively the result of
the primary radiation, that is, the photons that have traversed the overlying medium without
interacting. The contribution of the scattered photons to the depth dose in this case is negligibly
small or 0. But as the field size is increased, the contribution of the scattered radiation to the
absorbed dose increases. Because this increase in scattered dose is greater at larger depths than at
the depth of Dmax, the percent depth dose increases with increasing field size. The increase in
percent depth dose caused by increase in field size depends on beam quality. Since the scattering
probability or cross section decreases with energy increase and the higher-energy photons are
scattered more predominantly in the forward direction, the field size dependence of percent depth
dose is less pronounced for the higher-energy than for the lower-energy beams.
Photon fluence emitted by a point source of radiation varies inversely as a square of the distance
from the source. Percent depth dose increases with SSD because of the effects of the inverse
square law.
Questions:
a) Field size
b) SSD
d) All
b) 0.5 cm
c) 0.2 cm
d) 1.0 cm
Answer:
1. d) All
2. b) 0.5 cm