What is the primary purpose of a dosimeter?

• A. Measures gamma dose to your whole body and gamma/beta dose to your skin
• B. Measures alpha dose to the lungs
• C. Measures neutron dose
• D. Measures only beta dose to the skin

Answer: (A)

The essential idea is that a dosimeter is used to quantify the radiation dose a person has received, so safety limits can be tracked. Gamma radiation is highly penetrating and contributes to the whole-body dose, while beta radiation mostly affects the skin. A dosimeter is designed to capture both these aspects: the whole-body dose from gamma exposure and the skin dose from gamma/beta exposure. That makes the statement describing measurements of gamma dose to the whole body and gamma/beta dose to the skin the best description of a dosimeter’s purpose. In contrast, alpha dose to the lungs or neutron dose require specialized detectors or different measurement approaches, and a dosimeter isn’t limited to only skin beta dose.