Air-crew exposure to cosmic radiation on board of Polish passenger aircraft

To establish the need for individual monitoring of air crew, exposure of air-crew members of Polish airlines LOT to cosmic radiation has been determined and several dosimetry methods tested in flight. Passive radiation dosimetry (using thermoluminescent LiF and chemically etched CR-39 track detectors) was supported by calculations with the CARI computer code. We found that the air crew of most of the LOT aircraft studied (with the exception of those flying ATR propeller aircraft) may somewhat exceed or, in certain conditions (depending on solar activity), may considerably exceed the effective dose level of 1 mSv per year. For crew members flying regularly on B-767 aircraft, the estimated yearly effective dose ranged between 2 mSv and 5 mSv, depending mainly on flying frequency and solar activity. During periods of enhanced intensity of cosmic radiation (i.e. during minimum solar activity) the effective doses could be close to the level of 6 mSv per year.