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Reduction in the diameter of human hairs following irradiation

V. K. Sieber, PhD ^*, E. M. Sugden, FRCR C. J. Alcock, FRCR and R. R. Belton, MSc

^* CRC Normal Tissue Radiobiology Research Group, Research Institute (University of Oxford), Churchill Hospital, Oxford 0X3 7LJ, UK Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Churchill Hospital, Oxford 0X3 7LJ, UK Department of Radiation Physics, Churchill Hospital, Oxford 0X3 7LJ, UK

A measurable reduction in hair diameter was observed in human hairs following single exposures to -rays, 250 KeV X-rays, 8 MV photons and 10 MV electrons in the range 2.9–14.0 Gy. The data from the different types of radiation were pooled and fitted by linear regression with a slope of 2.34 ± 0.42% Gy^–1. There was approximately 2.4% reduction in hair diameter per Gy exposure. It would appear that the measurement of damage to the matrix cells of growing human hairs exhibits potential for use in biological dosemetry, especially in cases of non-uniform overexposure.

Key Words: Biological dosemetry • Hairs • Human radiation • Hair matrix cells

Present address: Department of Anatomy, Queen Mary and Westfield College, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.

Received for publication January 3, 1991. Accepted for publication September 4, 1991.