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How Does Bariwall Compare to Lead at Shielding Radiation?
The Need for Lead Alternatives
Traditionally, risks associated with X-ray scans, radiotherapy and radiology departments in medical facilities have always been combated with lead lined rooms. Lead is not only a hazard to human health when ingested but also to the environment as it is cumulative toxicant which remains in the atmosphere as dust.
Moreover, lead is expensive to mine, inflexible to build with and difficult to transport. Over recent years, there have been variety of studies undertaken to find an effective alternative.
Shielding Comparison
Bariwall bricks and traditional lead systems both possess radiation attenuating abilities and the below data provides a simple comparison of these abilities.
Results between 150kV and 250kV show an increase in efficiency as the Lead equivalence value has doubled. At higher energies the lead equivalence can be better measured, showing at 150kV a Bariwall Brick is comparable to Code 8 Lead (3.5mm). At 250kV, the Bariwall Brick is the equivalent to 7.4mm of lead, which is over double the Code 8 requirements.
Further testing on attenuation ratio by percentage shows >99.9% of radiation stopped by single layer of bricks at all energies.
These results suggest Bariwall bricks are an effective alternative to lead in terms of radiation attenuating abilities.
The innovative Bariwall product range can help reduce the impact to human health and the environment as well providing thinner, more flexible and effective non-lead shielding solutions.
