Relative Efficiency of TLD-100 to Linear Energy Transfer Radiation: Correction to Astronaut Absorbed Dose

Response of thermoluminescent detectors (TLD-100) to high linear energy transfer (LET) particles has been studied using helium, carbon, silicon, and iron ions from the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator at Chiba (Japan), iron ions from the Brookhaven National Laboratory (NY) Alternate Gradient Synchrotron, and 53, 134, 185, and 232 MeV protons from the Loma Linda accelerator. Using the measured relative (to (137)Cs dose efficiency, and measured LET spectra from a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) on 20 Space Shuttle flights, and 7 Mir flights, the underestimation of absorbed dose by these detectors has been evaluated. The dose underestimation is between 15-20% depending upon the flight inclination and shielding location. This has been confirmed by direct correlation of measured dose by TEPC and TLD-100 at a low shielded location in the Shuttle mid-deck. A comparison of efficiency- LET data with a compilation of similar data from TLD-700, shows that shapes of the two curves are nearly identical, but that the TLD-100 curve is systematically lower by about 13%, and is the major cause of dose underestimation. These results strongly suggest that TLDs used for crew dose estimation be regularly calibrated using heavy ions.