Usage of the Polyphenylene Oxide Dosimeter to Measure Annual Solar Erythemal Exposures

Abstract

Poly (2, 6-dimethyl-1, 4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) film is a useful dosimetric tool for measuring solar UV in underwater and terrestrial environments. However, little is known about how the response of PPO changes with fluctuations in atmospheric ozone and also to seasonal variations. To resolve this issue this manuscript presents a series of long-term in-air solar erythemal response measurements made over a year from 2007 to 2008 with PPO. This data showed that the PPO dose response varies with modulations of the solar spectrum resulting from changes in season and atmospheric ozone. From this it was recommended that PPO only be calibrated in the season in which it is to be used at the same time as measurements were being made in the field. Extended solar UV measurements made by PPO with a neutral density filter (NDF) based on polyethylene are also detailed. These measurements showed that the lifetime of PPO could be extended by five days before saturation. As the dynamic range for PPO is known to be five days during summer at a sub-tropical location, the advantage of using the NDF is that half the number of dosimeters is needed to be fabricated and measured before and after exposure.