Measurement of cosmic radiation dose to air crew connecting for a typical polar route flight

Abstract

In order to compare cosmic radiation dose for air crew including pilot and flight attendant between polar route flight and non-polar route flight, a typical polar flight route that is from Beijing to New York was selected and compared with non-polar route. Optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter and track etch detector CR-39 were worn as personal dosimeters to measure the cosmic radiation dose to air crew. The mean annual effective dose for air crew from polar route and non-polar route was (5.79 ± 0.92) mSv/year and (2.14 ± 0.64) mSv/year, respectively. The effective dose per 1,000 flight hours for air crew was (3.10 ± 0.27) mSv/1,000 h and (2.21 ± 0.46) mSv/1,000 h, respectively. The result is analyzed by using SPSS 15.0 statistical software. There was significant difference between the two groups for both mean annual effective dose (t = 30.25, P < 0.05) and the effective dose per 1,000 flight hours (t = 7.60, P < 0.05). The dose to pilot was higher than that of flight attendant for both polar route and non-polar route, and there was significant difference between them, for polar route (t = 7.96, P < 0.05), for non-polar route (t = 4.70, P < 0.05). The effective dose from cosmic radiation to air crew of polar route was higher than that of non-polar route, however, it did not exceed 20 mSv/year, which is the limit on cosmic radiation exposure set by many countries in the world.