The use of dose quantities in radiological protection: ICRP publication 147 Ann ICRP 50(1) 2021

Abstract

The International Commission on Radiological Protection has published a report (Publication 147) on the use of dose quantities in radiological protection, under the same authorship as this Memorandum. Here, we present a brief and partial summary of the report. ICRP Publication 147 consolidates and clarifies the explanations provided in the 2007 ICRP Recommendations (Publication 103) but reaches conclusions that go beyond those presented in Publication 103. Further guidance is provided on the scientific basis for the control of radiation risks using dose quantities in occupational, public and medical applications. It is emphasised that best estimates of risk to individuals will use organ / tissue absorbed doses and specific dose-risk models. However, bearing in mind the uncertainties associated with risk projection to low doses or low dose rates, it is concluded that effective dose may be considered as an approximate indicator of possible risk, recognising also that lifetime cancer risks vary with age at exposure, sex and population group. A further conclusion is that equivalent dose is not required as a protection quantity. It will be more appropriate for limits for the avoidance of tissue reactions for the skin, hands and feet, and lens of the eye to be set in terms of absorbed dose rather than equivalent dose.

Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses

“…We restricted attention to those studies of persons exposed in utero or in childhood (age 20 y or less) and with individually estimated organ/tissue doses. A further restriction was either that maximum cumulative doses (or if this could not be determined, mean cumulative doses) should not exceed the conventional definitions of low doses, <0.1 Gy, or moderate doses, 0.1–1 Gy ( Harrison et al 2021 ; Little et al 2021a ; United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) 2015 ), or that the maximum dose rate should not exceed 0.005 Gy per hour (the conventional upper limit for low dose rate ( United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) 2018 ) or 0.1 Gy per hour (which we take as the upper limit for moderate dose rate). Justification for these limits will be found in the Supplementary Methods .…”

Modulation of Secondary Cancer Risks from Radiation Exposure by Sex, Age and Gonadal Hormone Status: Progress, Opportunities and Challenges

“…Unfortunately, this omission results in a paucity of evidence-based assessment of secondary cancer risk from medical radiation exposure along the female life cycle [ 130 , 144 ]. This is probably the reason why guidelines and recommendations pertaining to the use of ionizing radiation in research and clinical practice [ 146 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 , 151 ], while invoking the need to take sex and biology into account, include specific recommendations to protect fetuses, infants and children but do not differentiate between young males and young (non-pregnant or lactating) females.…”

Patient Size-Dependent Dosimetry Methodology Applied to 18F-FDG Using New ICRP Mesh Phantoms

“…The effective dose quantity is derived from absorbed dose calculations and is a widely used concept in diagnostic radiation dosimetry -is provides a strategy for combining the variable organ doses into a single stochastic risk-relevant number (25,26,27). Effective dose coefficients (28) were computed using the methodology and tissue-specific weighting factors promulgated in ICRP 103 and ICRP 133, viz:…”