A catalogue of dosemeters and dosimetric services within Europe--an update.

The catalogue of dosemeters and dosimetric services within the European Union (EU) Member States and Switzerland that was issued by EURADOS in the year 2000 has been updated and extended with information on dosimetric services in the new EU Member States and Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Ukraine. The total number of dosimetric services in these European countries is now estimated to be about 200. The present catalogue is based on information collected from 90 European dosimetric services, among which 34 questionnaires from 32 services were obtained over the years 2001-2004 for the first time. This article assesses and updates the present use of personal dosemeters and the extent to which occupationally exposed persons in Europe are monitored with dosemeters able to measure the operational quantity-personal dose equivalent, H(P)(d). The perspective of joining EU by the new countries accelerated the implementation of the EU Basic Safety Standard Directive to their national regulations. As a result, all newly investigated services reported their ability to measure H(P)(d). The catalogue provides information on the dosemeters, dose calculation and background subtraction algorithms, calibration methods, energy and angular response, and performance.