Which body regions are commonly monitored by dosimeters, and why is lens monitoring sometimes required?

• A. Only the eyes are monitored to protect the lens from cataracts.
• B. Whole body, extremities (hands/fingers), and eyes (lens) for occupational exposure; lens monitoring is important due to cataract risk from specific exposures.
• C. Dose monitoring is not region-specific and all body parts are monitored equally.
• D. The abdomen and chest are the only regions monitored.

Answer: (B)

Occupational dosimetry targets the regions most at risk from the work being done, so dosimeters are placed to reflect dose to the whole body, to the extremities, and to the lenses of the eyes. The whole-body badge gives a picture of the general or effective dose a worker receives, while an extremity dosimeter captures the skin and tissue dose to hands and fingers when they are near the radiation field. The lens is monitored separately in situations where the eyes could receive a meaningful amount of exposure, because the eye’s lens is particularly radiosensitive and can develop cataracts at relatively low doses. In those scenarios, a dedicated eye dosimeter (often worn near the eye) helps ensure the lens dose stays within safety limits. It isn’t correct to think that monitoring is uniform for all body parts or limited to just the abdomen and chest; regional dosimetry reflects where exposure is most likely and where deterministic or protective concerns are highest.