Interaction of alpha particles at the cellular level - Implications for the radiation weighting factor

Since low dose effects of alpha particles are produced by cellular hits in a relatively small fraction of exposed cells, the present study focuses on alpha particle interactions in bronchial epithelial cells following exposure to inhaled radon progeny. A computer code was developed for the calculation of microdosimetric spectra, dose and hit probabilities for alpha particles emitted from uniform and non-uniform source distributions in cylindrical and Y-shaped bronchial airway geometries. Activity accumulations at the dividing spur of bronchial airway bifurcations produce hot spots of cellular hits, indicating that a small fraction of cells located at such sites may receive substantially higher doses. While presently available data on in vitro transformation frequencies suggest that the relative biological effectiveness for alpha particles ranges from about 3 to 10, the effect of inhomogeneous activity distributions of radon progeny may slightly increase the radiation weighting factor relative to a uniform distribution. Thus a radiation weighting factor of about 10 may be more realistic than the current value of 20, at least for lung cancer risk following inhalation of short-lived radon progeny. © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved

Monte Carlo code for microdosimetry of inhaled α emitters

A Monte Carlo code has been developed to calculate the local energy deposited by α emitters deposited on the inner surface in the lung airway. Developed to deal further with airway bifurcations, this code has been as a first step validated in a cylindrical airway configuration by comparison with well-established analytical codes in the case of contamination of bronchiolar airways with actinides. The code has then been applied to the study of uniform and non-uniform contamination of cylindrical bronchial airways by radon progeny in indoor and mine exposure conditions. In addition to the microdosimetric spectra, the average microdosimetric parameters (z̄F, n̄, z̄) have been evaluated. The work currently in progress consists in adapting this developed Monte Carlo code to the configuration of an airway bifurcation with realistic particles deposition

Application of new imaging and calculation techniques to activity and dose assessment in the case of a 106Ru contaminated wound

The aim of this paper is to describe the dosimetric evaluation of a point contamination that occurred in a laboratory during the examination of an irradiated sample. The incident led to point contamination of the operator's finger due to the presence of mainly 106Ru, with its progeny, 106Rh. The paper reports on the activity and dose assessment, performed using several methods. The measured activity was obtained using a conventional device based on a germanium detector and confirmed using software developed at IRSN, based on reconstruction of voxel phantom associated with the Monte Carlo N-Particle code (MCNP) for in vivo measurement. Two dose assessment calculations were performed using both analytical and Monte Carlo methods, applying the same approach as for activity assessment based on the personal computational phantom of the finger. The results are compared, followed by a discussion on the suitability of the tools described in this study

Dosimetric comparison of Monte Carlo codes (EGS4, MCNP, MCNPX) considering external and internal exposures of the Zubal phantom to electron and photon sources.

This paper aims at comparing dosimetric assessments performed with three Monte Carlo codes: EGS4, MCNP4c2 and MCNPX2.5e, using a realistic voxel phantom, namely the Zubal phantom, in two configurations of exposure. The first one deals with an external irradiation corresponding to the example of a radiological accident. The results are obtained using the EGS4 and the MCNP4c2 codes and expressed in terms of the mean absorbed dose (in Gy per source particle) for brain, lungs, liver and spleen. The second one deals with an internal exposure corresponding to the treatment of a medullary thyroid cancer by 131I-labelled radiopharmaceutical. The results are obtained by EGS4 and MCNPX2.5e and compared in terms of S-values (expressed in mGy per kBq and per hour) for liver, kidney, whole body and thyroid. The results of these two studies are presented and differences between the codes are analysed and discussed. © The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

Radiation fields, dosimetry, biokinetics and biophysical models for cancer induction by ionising radiation 1996-1999 Biokinetics and dosimetry of incorporated radionuclides. Final report

The final report 'Biokinetics and Dosimetry of Incorporated Radionuclides' presented here is one part of the 5 individual reports. The work to be carried out within this project is structured into four Work Packages: Workpackage 1 concentrates on ingested radionuclides, considering doses to the GI tract and radionuclide absorption. A major objective is the development of a new dosimetric model of the GI tract, taking account of most recent data on gut transit and dose to sensitive cells. Workpackage 2 seeks to improve and extend biokinetic and dosimetric models for systemic radionuclides. Existing models for adults and children will be extended to other elements and new models will be developed for the embryo and fetus. Workpackage 3 is to improve assessment of localised distribution of dose within tissues at the cellular level for specific examples of Auger emitters and alpha emitting isotopes, in relation to observed effects. The work will include experimental studies of dose/effect relationship and the development of localisation methods. Workpackage 4 concerns the development of computer codes for the new dosimetric models, quality assurance of the models and the calculation of dose coefficients. Formal sensitivity analysis will be used to identify critical areas of model development and to investigate the effects of variability and incertainty in biokinetic parameters. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RO 2674(01/00) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLECommission of the European Communities, Brussels (Belgium). Directorate General for Science, Research and Development (DG 12)DEGerman