Blyekvivalensen

Blyekvivalensen is a concept in radiation protection that expresses the shielding performance of a material as an equivalent thickness of lead (Pb) needed to achieve the same level of attenuation for a given radiation field. The term is commonly used in Dutch-language contexts to compare how well different materials block X-rays or gamma rays.

In practice, blyekvivalensen is used to specify protection provided by equipment and barriers in medical, industrial, and research settings. Protective aprons, gloves, screens, and room barriers are often labeled with a blyekivalente waarde that indicates how much lead would be required to achieve comparable attenuation for the intended radiation energy spectrum.

Calculation and interpretation rely on the energy of the photons and the shielding geometry. The blyekivalente waarde is determined by comparing the transmitted intensity through the shielding material with that through a reference lead shield under the same irradiation conditions. Because attenuation depends strongly on photon energy and spectrum, the blyekivalente waarde is not a fixed property of a material; it varies with the radiation source and its energy distribution.

Materials and standards: Beyond lead itself, other shielding materials such as tungsten, concrete, and certain plastics are described by their blyekivalente values to facilitate comparisons. Standards bodies and manufacturers publish tables or labels that relate material properties to lead-equivalent shielding.

See also: Lead shielding, HVL (half-value layer), attenuation coefficient.