Estimation of Collective Dose Equivalent to Holding Assistants from Veterinary X-ray Examination in Japan

Abstract

For the estimation of dose equivalent and collective dose equivalent from veterinary radiographic diagnosis a nationwide survey of randomly sampled hospitals and clinics was carried out concerning number of radiographs and fluoroscopic examinations performed in 1985-1986.
The resultant annual number of radiographs was 2, 310 thousand for small animals and 110 thousand for large animals with a total of 2, 420 thousand. The total time of fluoroscopic examination was 3, 000h.
Animals were exposed to diagnostic X-rays according to technical factors of typical radiographic and fluoloscopic examinations obtained from a nationwide survey to estimate the dose equivalent to holding assistants whose doses were determined using ionization chambers and thermoluminescent dosimeters placed at the position of the chest pocket.
The resultant annual collective dose equivalent was 1.06 man Sv for radiographs and 0.34 man Sv for fluoroscopic examinations with a total of 1.40 man Sv (140 man rem). The average annual dose equivalent per person was estimated to be 78μSv.