Electronic equilibrium as a function of depth in tissue from cobalt-60 point source exposures

Abstract

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has set the basic criteria for assessing skin dose stemming from hot particle contaminations. Compliance with 10 CFR 20.101 requires that exposure to the skin be evaluated over a 1 cm2 area at a depth of 0.007 cm. Skin exposure can arise from both the beta and gamma components of radioactive particles and gamma radiation can contribute significantly to skin doses. The gamma component of dose increases dramatically when layers of protective clothing are interposed between the hot particle source and the skin, and in cases where the hot particle is large in comparison to the range of beta particles. Once the protective clothing layer is thicker than the maximum range of the beta particles, skin dose is due solely to gamma radiation. Charged particle equilibrium is not established at shallow depths. The degree of electronic equilibrium establishment must be assessed for shallow doses to prevent the over-assessment of skin dose because conventional fluence-to-dose conversion factors are not applicable. To assess the effect of electronic equilibrium, selected thicknesses of tissue equivalent material were interposed between radiochromic dye film and a 60Co hot particle source and dose was measured as a function of depth. These measured values were then compared to models which are used to calculate charged particle equilibrium. The Miller-Reece model was found to agree closely with the experimental data while the Lantz-Lambert model overestimated dose at shallow depths.