title: Kevlar® as a Potential Accident Radiation Dosimeter for First Responders, Law Enforcement and Military Personnel.
abstract: Today the armed forces and law enforcement personnel wear body armor, helmets, and flak jackets composed substantially of Kevlar® fiber to prevent bodily injury or death resulting from physical, ballistic, stab, and slash attacks. Therefore, there is a high probability that during a radiation accident or its aftermath, the Kevlar®-composed body armor will be irradiated. Preliminary study with samples of Kevlar® foundation fabric obtained from body armor used by the U.S. Marine Corps has shown that all samples evaluated demonstrated an EPR signal, and this signal increased with radiation dose. Based on these results, the authors predict that, with individual calibration, exposure at dose above 1 Gy can be reliably detected in Kevlar® samples obtained from body armor. As a result of these measurements, a post-event reconstruction of exposure dose can be obtained by taking various samples throughout the armor body and helmet worn by the same irradiated individual. The doses can be used to create a whole-body dose map that would be of vital importance in a case of a partial body or heterogeneous exposure.
authors.affiliation: *Naval Dosimetry Center, 8950 Brown Drive, Bethesda, MD 20889-5614; † Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; ‡ 2cmE Consultants LLC, 111 Linden Hall Lane, Gaithersburg, MD.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romanyukha
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Trompier
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Benevides
mesh_terms: D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D060731:Emergency Responders; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D008422:Materials Testing; D008889:Military Personnel; D016495:Police; D011108:Polymers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014915:Whole-Body Counting / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: C039578:Kevlar Aramid fibers; D011108:Polymers