What's New?
.	NRC Chairman Resigns
.	NAS Report on Future Workforce Needs
.	Hodes Award Nominations Request
.	Radiation Risks and Protective Actions
.	June Journal
.	IAEA Conference - Rad Protection in Medicine
.	HPS Mentoring Program Update
.	New Low-Level Waste Site Operational
.	May Newsletter
.	America's Nuclear Future Report

Upcoming Events
.	Canadian Radiation Protection Association Annual Meeting 27-30 May 2012 Halifax, Nova Scotia
.	ACS Undergrad Summer Schools 10 June - 20 July 2012
.	NRC Meeting Webcasts May-June 2012
.	57th Annual HPS Meeting 22-26 July 2012 Sacramento, CA
.	37th Annual Conference of the Australasian Radiation Protection Society (ARPS) 14-17 Oct 2012 Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour
.	International Conference on Radiation Shielding 2-7 Nov 2012 Nara, Japan

24 May 2012

Answer to Question #567 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Instrumentation and Measurements — Personnel Monitoring (PM)

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

Can you provide a reference document regarding the impact of human sweat on alpha monitoring for skin contamination?

No reference was found regarding the impact of human sweat on alpha monitoring for skin contamination. This question has been posed before on the RADSAFE bulletin board; however, there were no definitive responses. Your question is an astute one and a good health physics program would ensure that surveys of personnel for beta and alpha contamination are done in such a way that sweat does not interfere. A common application for attenuation of alpha particles is for self-absorption by smears and air sample filters. Most sites that I am aware of perform empirical studies to determine these self-absorption factors. The same approach could be taken for self-absorption due to dried human sweat. There are many references that provide information useful for surface contamination evaluation and for attenuation of alpha particles. Some of these include:

Moore, McFarland, Rogers. Factors that affect alpha particle detection in continuous air monitor applications. Health Physics 65 (1):69-81; 1993.
Raghqvaya, Giriday, Markose. Correction for self absorption in alpha sources, Health Physics 29:785-786, 1975.
Marshal, Stevens. Health Physics 39:409-423.
ISO 7503-1, Evaluation of surface contamination–Part 1: Beta-emitters and alpha emitters.
NUREG-1400, Chapter 6.

Robert Leib, CHP

Answer posted on 17 January 2001. The information and material posted on this website is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Website. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.