Abstract
Radon gas (), a major component of background radiation, is an alpha emitter with progeny that also emit alpha particles. It is ubiquitous in our environment and epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to and its progeny have been linked to an increase in lung cancer incidence. To study the biological effects of alpha radiation, an in vitro Alpha Radiation Exposure System (ARES) was designed. The ARES consisted of six electroplated stainless steel discs with activities averaging 66 kBq and Mylar-based culture Dishes (MD) to allow the transmission of alpha particles. The GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit was used for the dosimetry calculations with the source code being adapted from the Microbeam example. The average dose-rate of the system was simulated and the system was characterized by comparing the clonogenic survival curves from gamma exposures on regular culture dishes to the MD, and then comparing the alpha exposures to the gamma exposures on the MD.
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