Thermoluminescence dosimetry in the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

The results of five years of radiation monitoring of 590 radiation workers in Jamaica and an additional 88 in Barbados and The Turks and Caicos Islands show that the annual dose absorbed by Caribbean radiation workers is, with a single exception, well within the internationally accepted limits of 20 mSv per year. There were few cases of relatively high exposures. The dose equivalent of the radiation workers by category agrees with international trends; workers in nuclear medicine receive the highest doses and dental radiologists the lowest. The collective Effective Dose Equivalent has been calculated for each of the monitored populations and certain trends identified. The risk for development of fatal cancers from the occupational doses reported was very low. Consistent monitoring will identify aberrant conditions quickly and help maintain that record