Tooth enamel EPR dosimetry: sources of errors and their correction

Abstract

Some of the most important sources of systematic errors in dose determination using tooth enamel EPR spectroscopy and ways of reducing those errors are discussed. Enamel from the outside of the front teeth should not be used for dose determination because of induction of paramagnetic centers by solar light. The accuracy of the method in the low dose range is limited by variation in the shape of the EPR signal of unirradiated enamel, which can be described by an initial intrinsic signal and which varies for different samples with standard deviation of 20–30 mGy. The energy dependence of enamel sensitivity should be taken into account in the form of a correction factor. The value of this factor is estimated at 1.1–1.3 for real radiation fields in radiation contaminated territories. Variation in enamel sensitivity for different samples is shown to be within limits of 10–15% of the average value.