Re: Firefighters and Dosemetry in the UK. -Reply

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

Jamie Mallon stated:

> Sandy and others have discussed the downside of using EPDs to
> monitor firefighters.  Some of their points were well taken however I
> think it is inaccurate to apply these generalizations to all EPDs on the
> market.

To emphasize a point Jamie made, my intention was not to condemn all 
EPDs, only to point out the issues that need to be considered when 
selecting "any" dosimeter based on the valid expectations, be it an 
EPD, TLD or other instrument. As you all know, and if not, you will, 
ICN is a distributor for a major electronic dosimeter. I have never 
mentioned its name, nor expounded on its virtues. It does meet many 
of the important factors I raised, however, it doesn't satisfy all of 
them. My personal opinion remains that for an overall dosimeter, one 
that can be worn in any work environment, low energy to high energy 
photons, low energy to high energy beta, there is no finer dosimeter 
than the TLD, assuming that the processor has spent a significant 
amount of effort to define an algorithm that provides a uniform 
repsonse across the wide spectrum. An EPD can't do this, but can be 
calibrated for regions of interest, if known in advance.



------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
mailto:sandyfl@ix.netcom.com
mailto:sperle@icnpharm.com

Personal Homepages:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205 (primary)
http://www.netcom.com/~sandyfl/home.html (secondary)

"The object of opening the mind as of opening 
the mouth is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -