AT THE PHYSICS-BIOLOGY INTERFACE: THE NEUTRON AFFAIR

We present predictions of neutron relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for cell irradiations with neutron beams at PTB-Braunschweig. A neutron RBE model is adopted to evaluate initial DNA damage induction given the neutron-induced charged particle field. RBE values are predicted for cell exposures to quasi-monoenergetic beams (0.56 MeV, 1.2 MeV) and to a broad energy distribution neutron field with dose-averaged energy of 5.75 MeV. Results are compared to what obtained with our RBE predictions for neutrons at similar energies, when a 30-cm sphere is irradiated in an isotropic neutron field. RBE values for experimental conditions are higher for the lowest neutron energies, because, as expected, target geometry determines the weight of the low-effectiveness photon component of the neutron dose. These results highlight the importance of characterizing neutron fields in terms of physical interactions, to fully understand neutron-induced biological effects, contributing to risk estimation and to the improvement of radiation protection standards.

The origin of neutron biological effectiveness as a function of energy

The understanding of the impact of radiation quality in early and late responses of biological targets to ionizing radiation exposure necessarily grounds on the results of mechanistic studies starting from physical interactions. This is particularly true when, already at the physical stage, the radiation field is mixed, as it is the case for neutron exposure. Neutron Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) is energy dependent, maximal for energies ~1 MeV, varying significantly among different experiments. The aim of this work is to shed light on neutron biological effectiveness as a function of field characteristics, with a comprehensive modeling approach: this brings together transport calculations of neutrons through matter (with the code PHITS) and the predictive power of the biophysical track structure code PARTRAC in terms of DNA damage evaluation. Two different energy dependent neutron RBE models are proposed: the first is phenomenological and based only on the characterization of linear energy transfer on a microscopic scale; the second is purely ab-initio and based on the induction of complex DNA damage. Results for the two models are compared and found in good qualitative agreement with current standards for radiation protection factors, which are agreed upon on the basis of RBE data.

Radiation environment at aviation altitudes and in space

On the Earth, protection from cosmic radiation is provided by the magnetosphere and the atmosphere, but the radiation exposure increases with increasing altitude. Aircrew and especially space crew members are therefore exposed to an increased level of ionising radiation. Dosimetry onboard aircraft and spacecraft is however complicated by the presence of neutrons and high linear energy transfer particles. Film and thermoluminescent dosimeters, routinely used for ground-based personnel, do not reliably cover the range of particle types and energies found in cosmic radiation. Further, the radiation field onboard aircraft and spacecraft is not constant; its intensity and composition change mainly with altitude, geomagnetic position and solar activity (marginally also with the aircraft/spacecraft type, number of people aboard, amount of fuel etc.). The European Union Council directive 96/29/Euroatom of 1996 specifies that aircrews that could receive dose of >1 mSv y(-1) must be evaluated. The dose evaluation is routinely performed by computer programs, e.g. CARI-6, EPCARD, SIEVERT, PCAire, JISCARD and AVIDOS. Such calculations should however be carefully verified and validated. Measurements of the radiation field in aircraft are thus of a great importance. A promising option is the long-term deployment of active detectors, e.g. silicon spectrometer Liulin, TEPC Hawk and pixel detector Timepix. Outside the Earth's protective atmosphere and magnetosphere, the environment is much harsher than at aviation altitudes. In addition to the exposure to high energetic ionising cosmic radiation, there are microgravity, lack of atmosphere, psychological and psychosocial components etc. The milieu is therefore very unfriendly for any living organism. In case of solar flares, exposures of spacecraft crews may even be lethal. In this paper, long-term measurements of the radiation environment onboard Czech aircraft performed with the Liulin since 2001, as well as measurements and simulations of dose rates on and outside the International Space Station were presented. The measured and simulated results are discussed in the context of health impact.

Dose distribution outside the target volume for 170-MeV proton beam

Dose delivered outside the proton field during radiotherapy can potentially lead to secondary cancer development. Measurements with a 170-MeV proton beam were performed with passive detectors (track etched detectors and thermoluminescence dosemeters) in three different depths along the Bragg curve. The measurement showed an uneven decrease of the dose outside of the beam field with local enhancements. The major contribution to the delivered dose is due to high-energy protons with linear energy transfer (LET) up to 10 keV µm(-1). However, both measurement and preliminary Monte Carlo calculation also confirmed the presence of particles with higher LET.

Simulations of the MATROSHKA experiment at the international space station using PHITS

Concerns about the biological effects of space radiation are increasing rapidly due to the perspective of long-duration manned missions, both in relation to the International Space Station (ISS) and to manned interplanetary missions to Moon and Mars in the future. As a preparation for these long-duration space missions, it is important to ensure an excellent capability to evaluate the impact of space radiation on human health, in order to secure the safety of the astronauts/cosmonauts and minimize their risks. It is therefore necessary to measure the radiation load on the personnel both inside and outside the space vehicles and certify that organ- and tissue-equivalent doses can be simulated as accurate as possible. In this paper, simulations are presented using the three-dimensional Monte Carlo Particle and Heavy-Ion Transport code System (PHITS) (Iwase et al. in J Nucl Sci Tech 39(11):1142-1151, 2002) of long-term dose measurements performed with the European Space Agency-supported MATROSHKA (MTR) experiment (Reitz and Berger in Radiat Prot Dosim 120:442-445, 2006). MATROSHKA is an anthropomorphic phantom containing over 6,000 radiation detectors, mimicking a human head and torso. The MTR experiment, led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), was launched in January 2004 and has measured the absorbed doses from space radiation both inside and outside the ISS. Comparisons of simulations with measurements outside the ISS are presented. The results indicate that PHITS is a suitable tool for estimation of doses received from cosmic radiation and for study of the shielding of spacecraft against cosmic radiation.