2012 Volume 26 Issue 2 Pages 128-132
The biological effects of radiation are of two types: stochastic (such as radiation‐induced cancer) and deterministic (such as erythema).The effective dose is used to assess the risk of stochastic effects, and the dose equivalent is used to assess the risk of deterministic effects. However, the effective dose and dose equivalent, body‐related protection quantities, are not measurable. Therefore, operational quantities (1‐cm dose equivalent and 70‐μm dose equivalent) are used to assess the effective dose and dose equivalent. Generally, the 1‐cm dose equivalent, determined using a monitoring badge, is used to assess effective dose, whereas the 70‐cm dose equivalent, determined using a monitoring badge, is used to assess dose equivalent. Furthermore, when using two monitoring badges, the 1‐cm dose equivalent of each badge is converted into the effective dose using calculation algorithms.
