Comparative study of radiation ionizing on the MRCP-AM phantom before and after using the Bi2O3 AlF3 CaO B2O3 shielding glass by PHITS Monte Carlo simulation

The estimation of radiation hazards to the human body before and after the use of shielding glass is the next level of research on its radiation shielding properties. In this work, the glass compositions of the Bi2O3 20AlF3 20CaO (60-)B2O3 (where mol%) were prepared by the melt-quenching method. The adult male mesh-type reference computational phantoms (MRCP-AM) were used to represent the whole human body, including the shape, chemical composition, and densities of every organ. The absorbed dose and effective dose rate on the phantom before and after using the shielding glass (thickness 1.0 cm) were estimated by PHITS Monte Carlo simulation. The mono-energetic photon of 0.662 MeV was irradiated with an anterior-posterior (AP) direction. In addition, the physical properties and gamma-ray shielding properties of the glasses, including the density (ρ), molar volume (Vm), mass attenuation coefficient (), half-value layer (HVL), Zeff, and Neff, were investigated by PHITS and XCOM in an energy range of 0.015 MeV to 15 MeV, as well as comparison with experimental methods at different energy (133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co sources). The results found that the addition of the Bi2O3 content into the glass structure affects the increase of the ρ, Vm, , Zeff, and Neff but the decrease of the HVL. In addition, the comparative study of radiation dose on the MRCP-AM phantom before and after using the shielding glass by PHITS Monte Carlo simulation demonstrated that the 40Bi2O3 glass sample can reduce damage to the brain, liver, left lung, right lung, prostate, skin, and thyroid, which are equal to 30.34%, 28.93%, 29.33%, 29.70%, 21.15%, 25.72%, and 21.99%, respectively, when compared with no shielding materials. The effective dose rate in MRCP-AM with shielding glass revealed significantly less damage than without shielding glass.