Sievert - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Sievert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The sievert (symbol: Sv) is the SI derived unit of dose equivalent. It attempts to reflect the biological effects of radiation as opposed to the physical aspects, which are characterised by the absorbed dose, measured in gray. It is named after Rolf Sievert, a Swedish medical physicist famous for work on radiation dosage measurement and research into the biological effects of radiation.

Contents
1 Definition 2 SI multiples and conversions 3 Explanation 4 Q values 5 N values 6 Spelling 7 See also 8 References

Definition
The equivalent dose to a tissue is found by multiplying the absorbed dose, in gray, by a dimensionless "quality factor" Q, dependent upon radiation type, and by another dimensionless factor N, dependent on all other pertinent factors. N depends upon the part of the body irradiated, the time and volume over which the dose was spread, even the species of the subject. Together, Q and N constitute the radiation weighting factor, WR . Q is the same thing as the Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE). For an organism composed of multiple tissue types a weighted sum or integral is often used. (In 2002, the CIPM decided that the distinction between Q and N causes too much confusion and therefore deleted the factor N from the definition of absorbed dose in the SI brochure. [1] (http://www.bipm.fr/en/CIPM/db/2002/2/).) In terms of SI base units: 1 Sv = 1 J/kg = 1 m2/s2 = 1 m2s2 Although the sievert has the same dimensions as the gray (i.e. joules per kilogram), it measures a different quantity. To avoid confusion between the absorbed dose and the equivalent dose, the corresponding special units, namely the gray for absorbed dose and the sievert for the dose equivalent, are used. For a given amount of radiation (measured in gray - the plural of gray is gray), the biological effect (measured in sievert) can vary considerably as a result of the radiation weighting factor WR. This variation in effect is attributed to the Linear Energy Transfer [LET] of the type of radiation, creating a different relative biological effectiveness for each type of radiation under consideration. Per most government regulations, the RBE [Q] for electron and photon radiation is 1, and varies for other types of radiation (see below).

SI multiples and conversions

Frequently used SI multiples are the millisievert (1 mSv = 103 Sv) and microsievert (1 Sv = 106 Sv) or (1 mSv = 0.001 Sv) and (1 Sv = 0.000001 Sv). An older unit of the equivalent dose is the rem (Rntgen equivalent man). In some fields and countries, the rem and millirem (abbreviated mrem) continue to be used along with Sv and mSv, causing confusion. Here are the conversion equivalences: 1 Sv = 100 rem 1 mSv = 100 mrem = 0.1 rem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert 3/12/2011

Sievert - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1 Sv = 0.1 mrem 1 rem = 0.01 Sv = 10 mSv 1 mrem = 0.00001 Sv = 0.01 mSv = 10 Sv

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Explanation
Various terms are used with this unit: Dose equivalent Ambient dose equivalent Directional dose equivalent Personal dose equivalent Organ equivalent dose The millisievert is commonly used to measure the effective dose in diagnostic medical procedures (e.g., X-rays, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography, and computed tomography). The natural background effective dose rate varies considerably from place to place, but typically is around 2.4 mSv/year [2] (http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/gareport.pdf) (pdf). For acute (that is, received in a relatively short time, up to about one hour) full body equivalent dose, 1 Sv causes nausea, 2-5 Sv causes epilation or hair loss, hemorrhage and will cause death in many cases. More than 3 Sv will lead to LD 50/30 or death in 50% of cases within 30 days, and over 6 Sv survival is unlikely. (For more details, see radiation poisoning.) Given the linear no-threshold model of radiation response, the collective dose that a population is exposed to is measured in "man-Sievert" (manSv).

Q values
Here are some quality factor values based on ICRP 103 recommendations:[1] Photons, all energies : Q = 1 Electrons and muons, all energies : Q = 1 Protons and charged pions : Q = 2 Neutrons : Q is a continuous function of neutron energy Alpha particles and other atomic nuclei : Q = 20 There is some controversy that the Q=20 for alpha radiation is underestimated due to mistaken assumptions in the original work in the 1950s that developed those values. That original work neglected the component of the nucleus recoil radiation for alpha emitters.

N values
Here are some N values for organs and tissues:[2] Gonads: N = 0.08 Bone marrow, colon, lung, breast, stomach: N = 0.12 Bladder, brain, salivary glands, kidney, liver, muscles, oesophagus, pancreas, small intestine, spleen, thyroid, uterus: N = 0.05 Bone surface, skin: N = 0.01 And for other organisms, relative to humans: Viruses, bacteria, protozoans: N 0.03 0.0003 Insects: N 0.1 0.002 Molluscs: N 0.06 0.006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert 3/12/2011

Sievert - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Plants: N 2 0.02 Fish: N 0.75 0.03 Amphibians: N 0.4 0.14 Reptiles: N 1 0.075 Birds: N 0.6 0.15 Humans: N = 1

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Spelling
This SI unit is named after Rolf Maximilian Sievert. As with every SI unit whose name is derived from the proper name of a person, the first letter of its symbol is uppercase (Sv). When an SI unit is spelled out in English, it should always begin with a lowercase letter (sievert), except where any word would be capitalized, such as at the beginning of a sentence or in capitalized material such as a title. Note that "degree Celsius" conforms to this rule because the "d" is lowercase. Based on The International System of Units (http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si brochure/chapter5/5-2.html), section 5.2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert

3/12/2011