Dissolution and subsequent re-crystallization as zeroing mechanism, thermal properties and component resolved dose response of salt (NaCl) for retrospective dosimetry

In the present study we report dosimetric properties of iodized salt aiming at using it as an accidental luminescent dosimeter. It was found that the very good sensitivity of its main dosimetric peak is strongly affected by thermal treatments. This is also the case for OSL emission. The sensitivity loss due to heating implies that caution should be exercised while applying single aliquot protocols for dose evaluation. The sequence of dissolution and subsequent re-crystallization was established to be an extremely effective zeroing mechanism for the TL signal. The linearity in the dose response was also monitored in the case of dissolved and subsequently re-crystallized salt. In the case of naturally occurring salt, zeroing of the TL signal due to dissolution as well as the linearity of dose response up to doses as large as 100 Gy were found to be very promising features for dating applications. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.