March 4, 2010
Presented by Mike Boyd
US EPA Radiation Protection Division

I owe my career in Health Physics to my mentor,
Dr. Jim Watson.

The Federal guidance function is to "...advise the
President on radiation matters, directly or indirectly affecting the public, including guidance for all Federal agencies in the formulation of radiation standards...”
- Authority transferred from Federal Radiation Council to EPA Administrator in 1970
- President signs final guidance
EPA has used Federal Guidance to
- Set New Limits for Uranium Workers
- Set Revised General Standards for Workers
- Issue Guidance on the Use of Diagnostic X-rays
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Presidential Guidance
• Radiation protection principles and policy recommendations to
Federal agencies
• Signed by the President
Technical Reports
• Methodologies and coefficients for radiation dose and risk assessments
• Background information to support Presidential Guidance and standards

Federal Guidance
Technical Guidance
Presidential Guidance

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990
Radiation
Protection
Guidance for
Federal Agencies:
EISENHOWER
1960 (FRC)
Underground
Mining of U Ore:
NIXON
1970 (FRC)
Supplemental FG:
KENNEDY 1961
(FRC)
Tech. Reports 1, 2, 5,
& 7 Background for
Rad. Protection Stds.
1960, 61, 65 (FRC)
-- - - - -
Tech Reports 3, 4, 6
Fallout Studies 1962,
63, 64 (FRC)
Guidance on
Diagnostic X-rays:
CARTER
1978 (EPA)
Tech. Report 8
Guidance for Control of
Hazards in U Mines
1967 (FRC)
Tech. Report 9
Background for
Diagnostic X-ray
Guidance
1976 (EPA)
Guidance for
Occupational
Exposure (revised
1960 guidance):
REAGAN
1987 (EPA)
Tech. Report 10
Radioactive
Concentration
Guides (out of date)
1984 (FRC)
1995 2000 2005
Tech. Report 12
External Exposure DCFs
1993 (EPA)
Tech. Report 11
ALIs, DACs, &
DCFs (current,
ICRP 26)
1988 (EPA)
Tech. Report 13
Cancer Risk
Coefficients
1999 (EPA)
Presidential Guidance Technical Reports

FGR 9 FGR 11 FGR 12 FGR 13
Subject
International
Consensus
Basis
Diagnostic
X-ray
Guidance
Internal DCFS
-
Ingestion
-
Inhalation
External
DCFs
Cancer Risk
Coefficients
ICRP 26/30
ICRP
26/30
ICRP 60+

Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR)
• Reports by US National Academies of Science
•
• Seven to date. Reports IV and VI describe risk from alpha-emitting radionuclides, including radon
Reports III, V, and VII describe risk from low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation such as photons
United Nations Scientific Committee on the
Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)
•
•
• Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionizing Radiation
Fifteen reports 1955 – 2006
Ongoing work

Significant ICRP Recommendations and
Physiological Model/Data Table Publications
ICRP 2 and 10 (1960’s)
ICRP 26 and 30 (multiple parts) (1976 1980’s)
ICRP 60 + 66, 68, 72 et al (1990 – 2005)
ICRP 103 (2007) + documents being developed (through
2012 or later)

FGR 11 dose conversion factors (DCFs) used to calculate effective dose to reference adult from ingestion and inhalation of 800+ radionuclides
(Sv/Bq)
Provides ALIs and DACs
FGR 11 dosimetry is out of date (based on
ICRP 26 and 30 from 1976); but still needed to comply with some US regulations
More recent ICRP 60+ DCFs can be found on
FGR 13 CD Supplement

Provide effective dose for Reference Worker and
Reference Individual (both gender averaged)?
• Worker is adult only
• Individual is age-averaged for US population
Provide age-,gender-, and organ-specific equivalent doses?
Provide updated ALIs and DACs?
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FGR 12 DCFs used to calculate effective dose to reference adult from exposure to radionuclide concentrations in soil, air and water
Work is currently underway to update FGR 12 with addition of age- and gender-specific DCFs
New DCFs will reflect latest decay data in ICRP
Publication 107 (replaces ICRP 38)

Intake
Assumptions
Biokinetic
Models
Dosimetry
Models
Radiation
Dose to the Body
Activity in Body
Risk
Models
Risk
Coefficient
(RC)
Health
Effects
Studies
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O AK R IDGE N ATIONAL L ABORATORY
U. S. D EPARTMENT OF E NERGY

FGR 13 gives risk per becquerel for food ingestion, water ingestion, and inhalation
Gives risk/year of exposure per becquerel/ gram of radionuclides in soil
Revision based on BEIR VII is in the early stages
(expected ~ 2012 or later)
Current FGR 13 values in units of picocuries are available in EPA’s Health Effects Assessment
Summary Tables (HEAST)

CD Supplement includes all the data files used to calculate risk coefficients in FGR 13
A data viewer allows the user to look up age-, gender-, and organ-specific risks per radionuclide
ICRP 60+ dose coefficients are also available on the CD Supplement

FGR 9: RP Guidance for Diagnostic X-rays
Guidance only applies to use of medical/dental xrays in federal facilities (HHS, VA, DoD)
1976 guidance based on film radiography (film overexposure provided ALARA incentive)
Digital radiography, CT, and interventional fluoroscopy can give sizable doses creating a concern for increased latent cancer risk
Goal is to choose the appropriate imaging procedure and give the dose necessary for proper diagnosis – and no more!

Sources of Radiation Exposure
(NCRP Report # 160, 2009)
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As already mentioned, EPA is or will be updating
Federal Guidance Reports 9, 11, 12, and 13
FGR 9 and 12 will be completed in late 2010 or early 2011
FGR 13 is now scheduled for completion in 2013
FGR 11 may be ready in late 2012 or 2013, since organ dose information needed for new risk coefficients in FGR 13
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Federal Guidance for the General Public
• Current Guidance signed by Pres. Eisenhower in
1960
•
•
Sets public dose limit of 500 millirems/year
Draft proposal considers 2 options – 100 millirems/y with exceptions (e.g., radon) OR non-numerical approach requiring agencies set individual source limits using optimization principle
• Most agencies now make reference to ICRP/NCRP
100 mrem/y as all-sources limit
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Revised Occupational Presidential Guidance?
Embryo and fetus dose and risk coefficients?
Dermal absorption dose coefficients?
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To quote Dr. Watson, “Do you have any questions?”
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