Estimation of the absorbed dose in radiation-processed food--3: The effect of time of evaluation on the accuracy of the estimate

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometry is evaluated as a method to retrospectively assess the absorbed dose to radiation-processed chicken (containing bone). Decay of the hydroxyapatite paramagnetic center EPR signal intensity was monitored at three different dose levels (0.5, 3.0, 7.0 kGy) up to 20 days, and the dose was assessed for each level at 1, 8, and 20 days after irradiation. It was determined that the time of evaluation (up to 20 days post-irradiation) did not adversely affect the estimate for 0.5 and 3.0 kGy bone, and only moderately affected the 7.0 kGy estimates.