Optically stimulated luminescence properties of commercially available KCL dietary supplements as retrospective dosimeters

In the case of an unexpected exposure to radiation in places where there is no access to standard dosimeters, materials that can act as detectors in methods of retrospective dosimetry are looked for. Such materials include, but are not limited to, medicines and dietary supplements that are found in households or in personal bags. This article presents the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetric properties of dietary supplements, the main ingredient of which is a sensitive phosphor - potassium chloride (KCl). Three types of KCl dietary supplements were tested and compared to a selection of four common drugs in terms of their sensitivity. Basic dosimetric properties of dietary supplements such as signal repeatability, dose response and fading were determined. The dose recovery test was performed 2 and 7 days after exposure to radiation. The obtained dose values for the two supplements showed good compliance with the nominal dose values and the possibility of correctly assigning the doses to the levels of triage (low dose 0-1 Gy, medium dose 1-2 Gy and high dose > 2 Gy). The presented results show that dietary supplements with KCl have the potential to be used as emergency detectors in the dose recovery process.