News Archive

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) has published NCRP Commentary 30, Using Personal Monitoring Data to Derive Organ Doses for Medical Radiation Workers, With a Focus on Lung. The publication overview is also available on the NCRP website.

NCRP Commentary 30 is a comprehensive analysis of the issues and approach for estimating organ doses from individual monitoring data for medical radiation workers. It expands on the general guidance in NCRP Report No. 178, Deriving Organ Doses and Their Uncertainty for Epidemiological Studies, by presenting organ dose conversion coefficients specific for several radiation exposure settings found in health care facilities.

Estimating radiation risk from epidemiologic studies of exposed individuals is challenging and depends on estimates of the dose received. Uncertainties are present in all estimates of dose, and exposures of medical radiation workers are particularly challenging because of the introduction and use of protective shielding, the rapid changes in medical technologies over time, and the propensity for individuals to have exposures in many facilities over the course of their careers.

NCRP Commentary 30 describes an approach for using personal monitoring data to estimate lung and other organ doses and highlights specific precautions applicable to epidemiologic study of medical radiation workers. This approach and information are valuable as support for the Million Person Study (MPS) of Radiation Workers and Veterans, as a compilation of the historical elements of dosimetry, and to support ongoing estimates of risk for male and female populations.