Dietary Salt as a Potential Dosimeter in Retrospective Dosimetry

Abstract

As a result of the risk that radiological and nuclear disasters and accidents will expose members of the public to unsafe amounts of radiation, numerous emergency dosimetry approaches for triage have been thoroughly explored. The current methods of retrospective dosimetry encompass a variety of biological, physical, and chemical procedures related to the radiation exposure of the human body. Additional items that might be useful as fortuitous dosimeters using luminescence techniques include banknotes, electronic components, table salt, quartz recovered from bricks, and other burnt ceramic materials. In this study, we investigated the usability of the dietary salt supplement for retrospective dosimetry in the dose range related to triage. We studied samples' limit of detection (LOD), dose response, reproducibility, and fading, which are all important elements of the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signal and sample's luminescent properties. Measurements were conducted by Riso TL/OSL reader DA-20. The study used potassium chloride tablets and electrolyte powder from different manufacturers that were packaged in standard lightproof containers. The findings of this study demonstrate that these supplements after irradiation provide measurable and satisfactorily reproducible OSL signal. The signal increases linearly with the dose in the triage-related dose range and has low LOD values.