Development of a chemical dosimeter for electron beam food irradiation

Date

2006-08-16

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Publisher

Texas A&M University

Abstract

A chemical solution composed of paraffin wax, chloroform, and methyl yellow biological indicator was shaped into a solid 3-D apple phantom to determine absorbed dose from e-beams and X-rays. The purpose of this research was to determine the most uniform irradiation treatment on apple-phantoms (a complex shaped target) and GAFCHROMIC?? HD-810 films using electron beams from (1) a 2 MeV Van de Graaff (VDG) accelerator, (2) a 10 MeV Linear Accelerator (LINAC), and (3) X-rays from a 5 MeV LINAC. Irradiation with the VDG accelerator confirmed that tilting the apple-phantom yaxis towards the e-beam source by 90 degrees, 45, and 22.5 degrees resulted in more uniform treatment in both the methyl yellow apple phantom and HD-810 film. The phantoms were over-exposed at the top and bottom regions when their y-axis was oriented exactly parallel to the e-beam at 22.5-degrees. The 45-degree orientation ensured uniformity throughout the whole apple surface without overexposing it at the top and bottom. In contrast, the 90-degree orientation resulted in the least effective treatment with the bottom and top region not receiving any radiation. A 10 MeV dual e-beam showed uniform penetration from top to bottom in the HD-810 film and apple phantoms. The HD-810 film responded linearly with doses up to 1.5 kGy while the methyl yellow response was non-linear up to 0.5 kGy maximum. The X-ray irradiation completely penetrated the apple phantoms from top to bottom showing excellent lateral uniformity at different penetration depths.

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