A dosimetric comparison between ICRP and ORNL phantoms from exposure to 137Cs contaminated soil

The 137Cs soil contamination has detrimental effects on human health. The penetration and distribution of 137Cs radionuclides at different soil depths were investigated. Two sampling campaigns in 2001 and 2018 were performed to determine the 137Cs activity in soil at 11 locations around the city of Kragujevac in central Serbia. The ICRP and ORNL humanoid phantom models were used to determine equivalent and effective doses from the experimentally measured data, and conversion coefficients were obtained from Monte Carlo computations. The results show a general decrease in 137Cs concentration in samples that were taken in 2018. However, variation of 137Cs concentration was observed at different locations that did not match the expected reduction of 137Cs concentration based on its half-life.Considering the computational results, no significant difference between the estimated equivalent dose rate per unit activity of 137Cs (conversion coefficients) between ICRP and ORNL phantoms was observed. In addition, two open-source computer programs for PC and Android devices were developed for users to determine the equivalent and effective doses for their specific cases; this gives the users an easy-to-use interface and portable tools to determine dosimetric quantities. The obtained results and the developed tools would be useful for future investigations related to soil contamination by 137Cs radionuclides that require extensive future studies.

Automated summary

The detrimental effects of 137Cs soil contamination on human health were investigated. A general decrease in 137Cs concentration in soil samples was observed in 2018, although variations were found at different locations. The study also showed no significant difference in estimated equivalent dose rate per unit activity of 137Cs between ICRP and ORNL phantom models. Two open-source computer programs were developed to provide users with an easy-to-use interface and portable tools to determine dosimetric quantities.