Measurements of Cosmic Radiation Exposures of Commercial Flight Crew

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bloom T ; Grajewski, Barbara A. ; Waters M
• Description:
  A flight crew are exposed to elevated levels of cosmic ionizing radiation of galactic and solar origin and are among the more highly exP9sed occupational groups to ionizing radiation in the US, with annual doses ranging from 0.2-5 mSv. Cosmic radiation (CR) dose depends primarily on altitude and geomagnetic latitude. The purpose of this study was to measure CR doses on flights as a function of altitude, distance flown, latitude and longitude and to compare these measurements to doses estimated using an empirical model (CARl) developed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Flight segments (n=17) included north-south, east-west, trans-arctic circle and trans-equatorial flights within 3 flight duration categories. CR measurements were made with two tissue-equivalent proportional counters (TEPC), recording the full lineal energy spectrum (0.2-1000 keV/um) every minute from gate departure to gate arrival. CR dose estimates were computed using CARI-3C for the same city pairs as the survey flights. Measured doses ranged from 0.64- 15.6 uSv/flight. CARI estimates of equivalent dose were generally lower than the measurements for the same flight segments. The per- cent difference (n=17) ranged from + II % to - 46% for flights <2 hours, -1.5% to -56% for flights between 2-8 hours long, and -14% to- 44% for flights >8 hours. No trend in % difference between measured and estimated doses by flight time was found. With respect to flight latitudes, the measured and estimated doses were in fairly good agreement for trans-equatorial flights but the % difference increased for higher latitude flights. Few cosmic radiation measurement data exist for commercial aircraft routes. TEPC dose measurements tend to be greater that those estimated by the CARI model. Differences in measured versus modeled data should be considered when estimating doses CR with the CARI model for epidemiologic studies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Radiation Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Altitude Exposure-levels Occupational-exposure Radiation-control Radiation-exposure Workers Workplace-monitoring
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5-6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022319
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, June 1-6, 2002, San Diego, California. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2002 Jun; :5-6
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment and Workforce: Special Populations
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, June 1-6, 2002, San Diego, California
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fce7e2dc0250e85d06a698d3a99bcce7a45d7e76e8f7d83d23a61c1e54326bd46c3d11d1cfb0777a6c0e322557f8e154a4e89f13e7f64a4545e832d617fa9bc1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199132/cdc_199132_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 674.76 KB ]