The Radiation properties of Barite-xylem shielding board

Abstract

Radiation is used in a variety of medical and scientific fields but poses potential danger to the human body. Hospital medical x-ray technicians traditionally use lead shielding materials to absorb radiation. However, lead has environmental disadvantages, with high toxicity to humans. Barite, a heavy-weight material, is added into concrete and bonded with xylem fiber, forming a shielding board as a replacement for lead. The xylem fiber barite shielding board (XFBSB) development and shielding properties are investigated in this report. XFBSB is designed for diagnostic medical x-ray shielding. It may be applied as shielding in walls and ceilings, doors and movable wall partitions. The physical properties of XFBSB are 14 mm in thickness with density ⩾ 2.0 g/cm3. This board was irradiated using a standard x-ray tube (Type MXR 320/Comet Y. TU 320 G03, TÜV NORD Sys Tec GmbH & Co. KG, German) with 70 kV, 100 kV and 150 kV Voltages respectively. The current of this standard x-ray tube is 22.5 mA, respectively. From the measured ambient dose equivalent H*(10), the attenuation factor F=H*(10) with board/H*(10) without board was calculated. For comparison, lead boards of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 mm thicknesses were irradiated under equal conditions with the attenuation factors F fitted for the different lead board thicknesses. The boards are proven to ⩾ 1mm lead equivalent in all irradiation energies. The XFBSB can substitute for lead shielding for photon energies around diagnostic medical areas. This board provides adequate shielding, is non-toxic, fire proof, easily installed and low cost.