Re: Dose received from air travel?

["ERIC GOLDIN" <goldinem@songs.sce.com>]

     One of our people carried an electronic dosimeter on an LAX to 
     Dulles flight and back.  The PED registered roughly 70 uR every 
     15 minutes above the background level of 8 uR/hr, yielding an 
     "excess" exposure rate (at 37,000') of 0.29 mR/hr.  The flight 
     east totalled 0.938 mR.  (I won't vouch for the PED accuracy 
     under those particular radiation conditions.)  We in the utility 
     business often compare situations like this to our environmental 
     impact, i.e. the annual exposure to the "hypothetical maximally 
     exposed member of the public" of less than 1 mR.  When addressing 
     non-HP's, I often add in my personal exposure "excess" when I 
     lived in Colorado, probably an additional 100 mR/yr.  Why compare 
     a miniscule gnat to another gnat, when you can compare to a 
     buzzard?
     
     Eric Goldin
     Southern California Edison
     goldinem@songs.sce.com
     
One of the little handouts we give in radtraining is a "calculate your own 
dose" sheet, clearly designed by the nuclear power industry, because it has 
all the natural sources of radiation (elevation, medical X-Rays, building 
construction, number of 600 mile flights, hours of television watched, 
etc.), then, at the end, some numbers for how far you live from a nuke plant 
(wherein those numbers are miniscule in comparison).
     
This sheet uses 4 mrem per 600 mile flight.
     
Hope this helps.
     
John
     
******************************************************* 
*John DeLaHunt, EH&S      * 1125 Glen Avenue          * 
*The Colorado College     * Colorado Springs, CO 80905* 
*jdelahunt@cc.colorado.edu* VOX:  (719)389-6678       * 
*        Owner:           * FAX:  (719)635-3177       * 
*hazmat-l@cc.colorado.edu *                           * 
***********This message is hereby disclaimed***********