Abstract
In order to compare cosmic radiation dose for air crew including pilot and flight attendant between polar route flight and non-polar route flight, a typical polar flight route that is from Beijing to New York was selected and compared with non-polar route. Optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter and track etch detector CR-39 were worn as personal dosimeters to measure the cosmic radiation dose to air crew. The mean annual effective dose for air crew from polar route and non-polar route was (5.79 ± 0.92) mSv/year and (2.14 ± 0.64) mSv/year, respectively. The effective dose per 1,000 flight hours for air crew was (3.10 ± 0.27) mSv/1,000 h and (2.21 ± 0.46) mSv/1,000 h, respectively. The result is analyzed by using SPSS 15.0 statistical software. There was significant difference between the two groups for both mean annual effective dose (t = 30.25, P < 0.05) and the effective dose per 1,000 flight hours (t = 7.60, P < 0.05). The dose to pilot was higher than that of flight attendant for both polar route and non-polar route, and there was significant difference between them, for polar route (t = 7.96, P < 0.05), for non-polar route (t = 4.70, P < 0.05). The effective dose from cosmic radiation to air crew of polar route was higher than that of non-polar route, however, it did not exceed 20 mSv/year, which is the limit on cosmic radiation exposure set by many countries in the world.
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Acknowledgments
Results presented in this contribution were obtained mostly owe to kind cooperation of several colleagues from Air China Limited. Thanks are expressed to Professor Changshou Zhu and Xiusheng Geng from National Institute for Radiological Protection (NIRP), China CDC for useful suggestions concerning the experiment and suggestions to improve this manuscript.
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Tuo, F., Zhou, L., Xu, C. et al. Measurement of cosmic radiation dose to air crew connecting for a typical polar route flight. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 293, 935–939 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-1775-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-1775-1