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What is Personal Dose Equivalent – Hp(10) – Hp(0.07) – Definition

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The personal dose equivalent is given the symbol Hp(d). Two common operational quantities for individual monitoring defined by the ICRP are: Personal dose equivalent, Hp(0.07) and Hp(10). Radiation Dosimetry

Personal Dose Equivalent – Hp(10) – Hp(0.07)

Radiation Dose Monitoring - Operational QuantitiesGenerally, the personal dose equivalent, Hp(d), is an operational quantity for individual monitoring. According to the ICRP, the personal dose equivalent is defined as:

ICRP Publication 103:

“The dose equivalent in soft tissue (commonly interpreted as the ‘ICRU sphere’) at an appropriate depth, d, below a specified point on the human body. ”

The personal dose equivalent is given the symbol Hp(d). Two common operational quantities for individual monitoring defined by the ICRP are:

  • Personal dose equivalent, Hp(0.07). The Hp(0.07) dose equivalent is an operational quantity for individual monitoring for the assessment of the dose to the skin and to the hands and feet.
  • Personal dose equivalent, Hp(10). The Hp(10) dose equivalent is an operational quantity for individual monitoring for the assessment of effective dose.

As can be seen, various depths can be used. The personal dose equivalent, Hp(d), can be assessed indirectly with a thin, tissue equivalent detector (radiation dosimeter) that is worn at the surface of the body and covered with an appropriate thickness of tissue equivalent material. The specified point, d, is normally taken to be where the radiation dosimeter is worn.

For assessment of superficial organs and the control of equivalent dose, depths of 0.07 mm for skin and 3 mm for the lens of the eye are employed, and the personal dose equivalents for those depths are denoted by Hp(0.07) and Hp(3), respectively. Hp(0.07) is also called the shallow dose equivalent.

For the assessment of deep organs and the control of effective dose, Hp(10) with a depth d = 10 mm is chosen. Hp(10) is also called the deep dose equivalent. If the personal dosimeter is worn on a position of the body representative of its exposure, at low doses and under the assumption of a uniform whole-body exposure, the value of Hp(10) provides an effective dose value sufficiently precise for radiological protection purposes. Neutron and gamma radiations contribute to both deep and shallow dose, but beta radiation is completely absorbed in the skin and therefore contributes to shallow dose only.

The SI unit of Hp(d) is the sievert (Sv). Unit of sievert was named after the Swedish scientist Rolf Sievert, who did a lot of the early work on dosimetry in radiation therapy.  For all types of external radiation, the operational quantities for individual monitoring are defined on the basis of a dose equivalent value at a point in a simple phantom, the ICRU sphere, which is a sphere of tissue-equivalent material (30 cm in diameter, ICRU (soft) tissue with density: 1 g/cm3 , and mass composition: 76.2% oxygen, 11.1% carbon, 10.1% hydrogen, and 2.6% nitrogen).

As was written, operational quantities are measurable unlike an effective dose, and instruments for radiation monitoring are calibrated in terms of these quantities. In monitoring, the values of these operational quantities are taken as a sufficiently precise assessment of effective dose and skin dose, respectively, in particular, if their values are below the protection limits. Numerical links between operational quantities and effective dose is represented by conservative conversion coefficients, which are defined for a reference person. In most practical situations, dosimeters provide reasonable approximations to the personal dose equivalent, Hp(d), at least at the location of the dosimeter. It must be noted, the personal dose equivalent generally overestimates the effective dose. On the other hand, this procedure is valid only at low doses and under the assumption of a uniform whole-body exposure. For high personal doses approaching or exceeding the annual dose limit, or in strongly inhomogeneous radiation fields, however, this procedure might not be sufficient.

Dose Limits

See also: Dose Limits

Dose limits are split into two groups, the public, and occupationally exposed workers. According to ICRP, occupational exposure refers to all exposure incurred by workers in the course of their work, with the exception of

  1. excluded exposures and exposures from exempt activities involving radiation or exempt sources
  2. any medical exposure
  3. the normal local natural background radiation.

The following table summarizes dose limits for occupationally exposed workers and for the public:

dose limits - radiation
Table of dose limits for occupationally exposed workers and for the public.
Source of data: ICRP, 2007. The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publication 103. Ann. ICRP 37 (2-4).

According to the recommendation of the ICRP in its statement on tissue reactions of 21. April 2011, the equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye for occupational exposure in planned exposure situations was reduced from 150 mSv/year to 20 mSv/year, averaged over defined periods of 5 years, with no annual dose in a single year exceeding 50 mSv.

Limits on effective dose are for the sum of the relevant effective doses from external exposure in the specified time period and the committed effective dose from intakes of radionuclides in the same period. For adults, the committed effective dose is computed for a 50-year period after intake, whereas for children it is computed for the period up to age 70 years. The effective whole-body dose limit of 20 mSv is an average value over five years. The real limit is 100 mSv in 5 years, with not more than 50 mSv in any one year.

Occupational Exposure – Effective Dose

In most situations of occupational exposure the effective dose, E, can be derived from operational quantities using the following formula:

Occupational Exposure - External and Internal.

The committed dose is a dose quantity that measures the stochastic health risk due to an intake of radioactive material into the human body.

Radiation Measuring and Monitoring - Quantities and Limits

References:

Radiation Protection:

  1. Knoll, Glenn F., Radiation Detection and Measurement 4th Edition, Wiley, 8/2010. ISBN-13: 978-0470131480.
  2. Stabin, Michael G., Radiation Protection and Dosimetry: An Introduction to Health Physics, Springer, 10/2010. ISBN-13: 978-1441923912.
  3. Martin, James E., Physics for Radiation Protection 3rd Edition, Wiley-VCH, 4/2013. ISBN-13: 978-3527411764.
  4. U.S.NRC, NUCLEAR REACTOR CONCEPTS
  5. U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Physics and Reactor Theory. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 1 and 2. January 1993.

Nuclear and Reactor Physics:

  1. J. R. Lamarsh, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Theory, 2nd ed., Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA (1983).
  2. J. R. Lamarsh, A. J. Baratta, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 3d ed., Prentice-Hall, 2001, ISBN: 0-201-82498-1.
  3. W. M. Stacey, Nuclear Reactor Physics, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, ISBN: 0- 471-39127-1.
  4. Glasstone, Sesonske. Nuclear Reactor Engineering: Reactor Systems Engineering, Springer; 4th edition, 1994, ISBN: 978-0412985317
  5. W.S.C. Williams. Nuclear and Particle Physics. Clarendon Press; 1 edition, 1991, ISBN: 978-0198520467
  6. G.R.Keepin. Physics of Nuclear Kinetics. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co; 1st edition, 1965
  7. Robert Reed Burn, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Operation, 1988.
  8. U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Physics and Reactor Theory. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 1 and 2. January 1993.
  9. Paul Reuss, Neutron Physics. EDP Sciences, 2008. ISBN: 978-2759800414.

See also:

Radiation Monitoring

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