Responses on the "Pig Pen" Effect

[dj_strom@ccmail.pnl.gov]

RADSAFERS,

On 9/23/96, Dan Strom <dj_strom@pnl.gov> wrote:

>I'm looking for the earliest reference to the "Pig Pen" effect in 
>radiation protection.  This effect, named after the Charles Schultz 
>character in the Peanuts(TM) comic strip who walks around in a cloud of 
>dust and debris, is the phenomenon of air being more contaminated near 
>a worker than at some distance away.  The explanation for the Pig Pen 
>effect is simply that the worker is generating the aerosol.  It is 
>important because it impacts the degree to which an air sample 
>represents the concentration breathed by a worker.
>
>If you know who first coined or used the term, and a reference for it, 
>I would be most grateful.  I have heard it attributed to the late Roger 
>Caldwell, then at NUMEC in Apollo, PA, in the late 1960s, but this is 
>apocryphal.

According to Bill Schadt <schadt@gnn.com>, the term doesn't show up in 
Quest.  The only other informative response I received to my query was 
this jackpot from Roy Craft:

>In the early 50's, we referred to the "Joe Bifflespic" in AL Capp's Lil 
>Abner, berfore Pig Pen became popular.  Joe had a cloud and lightning, 
>with rain falling only on him.  This acknowledged that some people 
>caused more air activity than others.
>
>It was also used to demonstrate "sell" the idea to workers why they had 
>to keep their respirators on until they had removed their contaminated 
>outer clothing, something that is ignored in the [DOE] RADCON manual.
>
>Oh, the location was Savannah River Plant.  If we were in B-Line, (Pu 
>production area) we surveyed coveralls for alpha prior to removing 
>masks. When clean, we could then remove the mask.

>When Peanuts became more popular, the "Pig Pen" expression was used, by 
>common usage.
>
>Roy C. Craft CHP
>1707 Pecan St.
>Bay City, TX 77414
>rcraft@tgn.net
>(409)245 9991

- Dan

The opinions expressed above are my own, and have not been reviewed or 
approved by Battelle, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or the 
U.S. Department of Energy.

Daniel J. Strom, Ph.D., CHP
Staff Scientist
Health Protection Department K3-56
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
P.O. Box 999
Richland, WA 99352-0999 USA
(509) 375-2626
(509) 375-2019 fax
dj_strom@pnl.gov