UV dosimeter based on Polyphenylene Oxide for the measurement of UV exposures to plants and humans over extended periods

Abstract

[Abstract]: Long-term solar UV measurements made by Poly (2, 6-dimethyl-1, 4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) dosimeters with a polyethylene neutral density filter (NDF) are presented in this manuscript. These measurements show that the life span of a PPO dosimeter can be effectively doubled before saturation. Therefore, as the dynamic range of PPO film is known to be approximately seven days during summer at a sub-tropical location, the advantage of using a NDF is that half the number of dosimeters will be required to be prepared and analysed before and after solar exposure. In addition, this manuscript depicts how the spectral response of the PPO dosimeter closely resembles the erythemal response and how the PPO dose response varies in accordance to changes of the solar spectrum resulting from seasonal changes and atmospheric ozone.