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Abstract
Purpose: In the frame of the QA program of RENEB, an inter-laboratory comparison (ILC) of calibration sources used in biological dosimetry was achieved to investigate the influence of calibration practices and protocols on the results of the dose estimation performance as a first step to harmonization and standardization of dosimetry and irradiation practices in the European biological dosimetry network.
Materials and methods: Delivered doses by irradiation facilities used by RENEB partners were determined with EPR/alanine dosimetry system. Dosimeters were irradiated in the same conditions as blood samples. A short survey was also performed to collect the information needed for the data analysis and evaluate the diversity of practices.
Results: For most of partners the deviation of delivered dose from the targeted dose remains below 10%. Deviations larger than 10% were observed for five facilities out of 21. Origins of the largest discrepancies were identified. Correction actions were evaluated as satisfactory. The re-evaluation of some ILC results for the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and premature chromosome condensation (PCC) assays has been performed leading to an improvement of the overall performances.
Conclusions: This work has shown the importance of dosimetry in radiobiology studies and the needs of harmonization, standardization in irradiation and dosimetry practices and educational training for biologists using ionizing radiation.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program [grant agreement No. 295513].
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are response for the content and writing of the paper.