Radiation Quantities &

Units
 Physical Quantities (PQs)

Units are used to measure PQ

Length, Mass, Time
C.G.S. , M.K.S.

Practical Units:
cm, mm, micro meter etc.
Kg, mg, micro gram etc.
hours, seconds etc.
 ICRU

International Commission on Radiation

Units & Measurement (ICRU)

In 1980 ICRU

Suggested the PQs and defined their units f

or use in Radiation Physics and radiological
protection

These were recommended in S.I. units

PQs of Radiation Physics

 Radioactivity
 Air KERMA
 Exposure
 Absorbed Dose
 Equivalent Dose
 Effective Dose
 Radioactivity

It is defined as the average number of

spontaneous nuclear transformations taking
place in unit time.
Its Unit is Becquerel (Bq)

1 Bq = 1 disintegration per second (1 dps)

Practical Units : kBq, MBq, GBq etc.

Old unit was Curie (Ci)

1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 dps = 3.7 x 1010 Bq

 Conversion of old unit to new

`Becquerel’ is a smaller quantity than

`Curie’

1 micro Ci = (3.7 x 10 10 Bq)/106 =37 kBq

1 milli Ci =(3.7 x 10 10 Bq)/1000 = 37 MBq

1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 Bq =37 GBq

 Exposure & Absorbed Dose
Two types of radiation:
- Directly ionising (charges particles)
- Indirectly ionising (uncharged particles, i.e. photons
and neutrons)

Exposure: defined for gamma- and X-rays

- These may either transfer all of their energy or a part of it to the
interacting matter

- It is the radiation field measured in the form of energy fluence

at a point in air

Absorbed Dose:

- It is the energy that is absorbed in the interacting medium

- Radiation field is measured by measuring EXPOSURE or the

ABSORBED DOSE
 KERMA (Indirectly ionising radiation)
Measure of field (exposure) of indirectly ionising radiation
at a point in the material.

It is the sum of initial K.E. of all the charged particles

liberated by radiation in unit mass of material.

KERMA: Kinetic Energy Released per Unit Mass

S.I. Unit is J/kg

Special name is Gray (Gy)

1 Gy = 1 J/kg

When the interacting medium is Air, it is called Air Kerma

 Exposure (X) [ indirectly ionizing radiation]
It is a measure of energy fluence of photons at
any point in air

It is that quantity of x or gamma radiation that

produces ions carrying 1 coulomb of charge (of
either sign) per kg of air

The unit of exposure is C/kg

Measurement of exposure is difficult when energy

is
< a few keV and > a few MeV
Old unit of exposure is Roentgen (R)

It is the amount of x or gamma radiation

which librates 1 esu of charge of either
sign in 1 cc of air at STP

1R = 1 esu charge librated per cc of air at STP

2.58 x 10-4 C/kg (air)

1 C/kg = 3876 R

Exposure is a quantity restricted to photons and to

medium air
 Dose(Absorbed) (D) [In a Material)
Effect produced depends on:
i) Energy transferred to the medium
ii) Energy absorbed by the medium

Quantity of absorbed dose (or simply Dose) at a

point is the amount of energy absorbed per unit
mass of the medium at that point.

The unit of Dose : J/kg

Another name of unit is : Gray (Gy)

Old unit of dose is `rad’ (Radiation
Absorbed Dose)

1 rad is the equal to 100 ergs energy

absorbed in 1 g of material

1 rad = 100 ergs/g = 10-2 J/Kg

(107 ergs = 1 J)

= 10-2 Gy
1 Gy = 100 rad
 Conversion of old unit to new

Gy is the bigger quantity than rad

1 Gy = 100 rad
1 mGy = 100 mrad
1 micro Gy = 100 micro rad
 Equivalent Dose (HT)
[Relative Biological Effectiveness of Radiat. or Linear Energy Transfer
of Radiat.]
Biol. Effects of Radiation depends on:

- Amount of energy absorbed

- Spatial distribution of ion pairs in the biological
medium

Spatial distribution depends on Linear Energy Transfer or

LET of radiation i.e. energy loss per unit length

LET is different for diff. radiation. Thus Biol. Damage

caused by same dose of diff. radiation may be different.

1 Gy of dose from alpha particles is found to produce about

20 times more damage than 1 Gy of Gamma dose.
To account for variation in effectiveness
of type of radiation, the Dose (absorbed)
is modified by a factor called radiation
weighting factor (wR).

HT = R DT,R wR

Since wR is a dimensionless quantity, the unit of

Equiv. Dose is also J/kg

A special name is given to it `Sievert’ (Sv)

 Radiation Weighting Factors (WR)

Types of Radiation Energies WR

Photons All energies 1

Electrons All energies 1

Neutrons <10 keV 2.5

1-2 MeV 20
Protons and charged pions > 2 MeV 2

Alpha particles, fission All energies 20

fragments and heavy ions
Old unit of equiv. Dose was `rem’
( rem= roentgen equivalent man )

Equiv. Dose in rem =

(Dose in rad) x (wR)

1 rem = 0.01 Sv
 Conversion of old unit to new

Sv is the bigger quantity than Rem

1 Sv = 100 rem
1 mSv = 100 mrem
1 micro Sv = 100 micro-rem
 Effective Dose (E)
 Exposure to radiation may occur to whole
body (uniform irradiation) or to individual
organs ( non-uniform irradiation).
 Non-uniform irradiation will have to be
restricted in order to avoid deterministic
effects, also to minimise stochastic effects.
 Therefore, ICRP recommends dose limits for
stochastic effects and deterministic effects.
Contd/-
 Effective Dose (E)
 If several tissues, T1, T2, T3, etc.,
individually receive equivalent doses
HT1, HT2, HT3, etc. the total risk to the
individual should not exceed that
resulting from the stipulated dose
limit to the uniform whole body
irradiation.
Contd/--
 Effective Dose (E)
 A number of organs are considered on
the basis of their sensitivity and the
seriousness of the damage.
 Depending on the extent to which the
risk from the stochastic effects in a
tissue/organ may contribute to the total
risk from the stochastic effects, a
tissue-weighting factor, wT is assigned
to each tissue/organ.
Contd/--
 Effective Dose (E)
Exposure may occur to whole body (uniform
irradiation ) or to individual organ(s) (non-uniform
irradiation). Thus the effective dose (E) is defined as

E = T HT x wT

wT is known as tissue weighting factor for the

tissue/organ T

wT is also dimensionless quantity therefore unit of

effective dose is also Sv.

Old unit was `rem’

 Tissue weighting factors
Organ wT Organ wT
Gonads 0.08 Stomach 0.12
Bone Marrow 0.12 Colon 0.12
Lung 0.12 Liver 0.04
Breast 0.12 Oesophagus 0.04
Remainder 0.12 Bladder 0.04
(14 in all)
-- -- Thyroid 0.04

Bone Surface 0.01 Brain 0.01

Salivary Glands 0.01 Skin 0.01
 INTERNAL EXPOSURE
ANNUAL LIMIT ON INTAKE (ALI )
ALI means the highest value the annual intake
of the specified radionuclide that would result
in a committed dose equivalent not exceeding
the annual dose equivalent limit, prescribed by
the Competent Authority, even if intake
occurred every year for 50 years.
ALI values are given for ingestion if intake is
through mouth and for inhalation if intake is
through breathing route.
 INTERNAL EXPOSURE
DERIVED AIR CONCENTRATION
DAC means the maximum concentration of a
radionuclide in the ambient air which, if inhaled
by a person for 2000 hrs in a year, at a breathing
rate of 1.2 m3/h, will not result in annual
effective dose in excess of the dose limits
prescribed by the competent authority.

DAC = ALI/ 2400 Bq/m3

Quantity Old Unit SI Unit Relationship
between units
Radioactivity Ci ( Curie) Bq 1 Ci = 3.7x1010 Bq
(Becquerel)
Exposure R C kg-1 1R = 2.58x10-4 C/kg
(Roentgen) (Coulombs/kg) 1C/kg = 3876 R
Dose rad Gy (gray ) 1 Gy = 100 rads
Equivalent rem Sv ( sievert ) 1 Sv = 100 rems
dose
Effective rem Sv ( sievert ) 1 Sv = 100 rems
dose