Re: New dosimeter for emergency personnel

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Interesting concept. However, if I were entering a potentially high 
dose rate area, not knowing what type of radioactive material or 
potential dose I were to be exposed to, I would prefer an electronic 
dosimeter AND a conventional dosimeter, preferably a TLD.

Questions to be asked:

(1) Does it respond to only gamma? What about exposure to x-rays of 
varying energies? What about beta radiation? What about neutron 
radiation?

(2) Is is affected by environmental factors, such as heat and 
humidity?

(3) What about time to respond to the incident radiation?

(4) Is there a dose rate dependency?

(5) What about linearity?

(6) Are there geometry issues?

(7) What is the minimal threshold?

(8) What is the upper threshold)

(9) Does one really expect that an individual is going to wear 
multiple litmus test papers, realizing that the potential dose rate 
is unknown?

There are more questions, but these are some that need to be 
addressed by the provider.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html