International Radiation & Waste Safety Standards
Introduction
Within a few weeks of Roentgen's discovery of X rays, the new technique was being put into use for diagnosing fractured bones. The radiation doses delivered by these early X ray generators were so high that acute effects including erythema, hair loss and dermatitis soon became noticeable to the medical personnel involved. A similar story followed the discovery, separation and use of radium.
The first "Radiation Protection Standards" were those proposed by the British X-ray and Radium Protection Committee and the American Roentgen Ray Society in the early 1920's and presented to the First International Congress of Radiology in 1925. The need for an agreed basis for measurements led in 1928 to the adoption of the Roentgen as a unit of exposure to X and gamma rays. The recommendations gradually evolved but continued to be aimed at protection of the exposed individual against the acute effects observed.
During and immediately after World War II the research into and knowledge of the effects of radiation expanded dramatically. It was in this period that, during the Sixth International Congress of Radiology in 1950, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and its sister body, the International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurements (ICRU) were formed from the previous Committees. The early recommendations of ICRP still focused on prevention of acute effects but with additional restrictions to take account of the possibility of hereditary damage through mutation. At the same time ICRU and ICRP refined the dosimetric quantities to recognize the different ways radiations interact with and transfer energy to tissues. Implicit in the various limits recommended by ICRP in 1959 was still the understanding that bodily injury would not result even from lifelong exposure at the limits.
The landmark change, even though presaged in earlier reports, did not come until the recommendations of the ICRP in 1977 in which, based on the accumulating evidence of long-term harm and the relation of increased risk of cancer to the accumulated radiation dose, the combination of dose limits with a requirement to keep doses not just below the limits but as low as reasonably achievable was formulated. That formulation has remained the basis of radiological protection and the associated standards up to the present.
The underlying biological basis of the standards over the last several decades has rested primarily on the work and reports of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). This committee was initially formed during the period of atmospheric weapons testing to assess the physical processes and health effects of fallout but has since broadened its remit considerably. Another body that also assesses radiation risk is the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations Committee (BEIR) of the US National Academy of Sciences.
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