Dosimetric concepts in photobiology

Abstract —The effectiveness of an irradiation at non-ionizing wavelengths for producing photochemical changes in a transparent sample can be characterized by any one of four different quantities. The utility of each depends on the information available about the sample and the kind of analysis intended. Nomenclature for these quantities is troubled. All four have been called “dose” in the literature, with or without modifying adjectives. In addition, incompatibility between the terminology for ionizing and non-ionizing radiations leaves the concept of “dose” ambiguous in the vacuum ultraviolet. Rather than abandon the term altogether, nomenclature restricting its use is suggested here, together with measurement units and symbols for the quantities. The use of dosimetric quantities implies certain assumptions about the system being irradiated which are not always fulfilled.