Measurement of contaminant removal from skin using a portable fluorescence scanning system.

The residence time of particulate contamination on the human body is a factor that has an important impact on the accuracy of exposure assessment in the aftermath of an accidental release of radionuclides to the atmosphere. Measurements of particle clearance from human skin were made using an illumination system to excite fluorescence in labelled silica particles and a CCD camera and image processing system to detect this fluorescence. The illumination system consists of high-intensity light emitting diodes (LEDS) of suitable wavelengths arranged on a portable stand.

Deposition of contaminant aerosol on human skin.

Over recent years, it has been established that deposition of various types of pollutant aerosols (e.g., radioactive) on human skin can have serious deleterious effects on health.