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08 February 2012

Answer to Question #5912 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Medical and Dental Equipment/Shielding — Shielding

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

As one of the alternative shielding materials, what is the lead equivalence of tiles?

In order to determine the lead equivalency of any material, you must first know the density. There is a table of information for commercial building materials in Report No. 49 from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP 1976); however, the value for tile is given as a range, so you will need to know the actual density for your particular tile. Turner provides discussion regarding calculation of tile thickness compared to concrete (Turner 1986).

In addition, remember that if tile is used, there must be grout with similar density filling up all seam/joint areas, or there must be overlap of the tiles to provide adequate shielding.

Ken "Duke" Lovins, CHP

References

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Structural shielding design and evaluation for medical use of x-rays and gamma rays of energies up to 10 MeV. Washington, DC; NCRP; NCRP Report No. 49; 1976.
Turner, JE. Atoms, radiation, and radiation protection. Pergamon Press; 1986.

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