Sucrose as a dosimetric material for photon and heavy particle radiation: A review

• Sugar as dosimetric material for high energy radiation
• Photon and heavy particles irradiation
• Solid state EPR

The application of high-energy radiation in many areas of human activity and its harmful effects on human health makes necessary knowledge of the radiation chemistry of various materials upon exposure to high-energy radiation. Among these materials, saccharides (particularly sucrose) maintain the greatest advantage for potential radiochemistry applications. Until now, radiation chemistry studies have been conducted primarily with γ-ray irradiation; however, in the past few years there has been increased interest in the fields of radiotherapy and radiochemistry on substances irradiated with heavy particles. To this end, this review discusses the possibilities of employing sucrose as a radiation-sensitive material for the determination of absorbed doses of high-energy radiation both for emergency situations and for dosimeters used in standard applications.