Estimating the cosmic radiation dose for a cabin crew with flight timetables

Area of Science:

• Aviation Medicine
• Radiation Dosimetry

Background:

• Assessing occupational cosmic radiation exposure for cabin crew is challenging due to limited historical flight data.
• Retrospective dose estimation requires reliable methods to account for varying flight patterns and aircraft types.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a straightforward method for assessing cabin crew occupational exposure to cosmic radiation.
• To utilize flight timetables for calculating individual cumulative radiation doses.

Main Methods:

• Collected flight frequency, aircraft types, and flight profiles from historical timetables.
• Calculated cosmic radiation dose using the EPCARD software.
• Estimated cumulative dose based on annual doses and individual work history.

Main Results:

• Annual cosmic radiation doses showed a linear increase from 0.7 mSv in 1960 to 2.3 mSv in 1985.
• The median cumulative occupational radiation dose was 20.8 mSv, with a range from 0.4 mSv to 61.6 mSv.

Conclusions:

• The developed method offers a simple algorithm for occupational dose assessment in cabin crew.
• This approach is applicable to other research settings requiring retrospective radiation exposure evaluation.