Optical properties of a long dynamic range chemical UV dosimeter based on solvent cast polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

• The dosimetric properties of a long term UV dosimeter based on solvent-cast polyvinyl chloride were fully characterised.
• The dosimeter was found to satisfy the requirements for long term UV dosimeter.
• The dynamic range of the dosimeter extends to more than 900 SED of erythemal UV exposure.
• The dosimeter can monitor at least 3 weeks of continuous exposure to solar UV radiation at subtropical sites in summer.
• The dynamic range provided by the dosimeter is much longer than any known chemical UV dosimeter.

The dosimetric properties of the recently introduced UV dosimeter based on 16 μm PVC film have been fully characterised. Drying the thin film in air at 50 °C for at least 28 days was found to be necessary to minimise the temperature effects on the dosimeter response. This research has found that the dosimeter response, previously reported to be mainly to UVB, has no significant dependence on either exposure temperature or dose rate. The dosimeter has negligible dark reaction and responds to the UV radiation with high reproducibility. The dosimeter angular response was found to have a similar pattern as the cosine function but deviates considerably at angles larger than 70°. Dose response curves exhibit monotonically increasing shape and the dosimeter can measure more than 900 SED. This is about 3 weeks of continuous exposure during summer at subtropical sites. Exposures measured by the PVC dosimeter for some anatomical sites exposed to solar radiation for twelve consecutive days were comparable with those concurrently measured by a series of PPO dosimeters and were in line with earlier results reported in similar studies.