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Marsh JW, Tomášek L, Laurier D, Harrison JD. EFFECTIVE DOSE COEFFICIENTS FOR RADON AND PROGENY: A REVIEW OF ICRP AND UNSCEAR VALUES. RADIATION PROTECTION DOSIMETRY 2021; 195:1-20. [PMID: 34278430 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncab106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) publishes guidance on protection against radon exposure in homes and workplaces. ICRP Publication 137 recommends a dose coefficient of 3 mSv per mJ h m-3 (~10 mSv WLM-1) to be used in most circumstances of radon exposure, for workers in buildings and in underground mines. Recently, United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) reviewed radon epidemiology and dosimetry and concluded that its established dose coefficient of 1.6 mSv per mJ h m-3 (5.7 mSv WLM-1) should be retained for use in its comparisons of radiation exposures from different sources in a population. This paper explains and compares the reviews of the scientific evidence from UNSCEAR and ICRP. It is shown that the UNSCEAR and ICRP reviews are consistent and support the use of the ICRP reference dose coefficients for radiation protection purposes. It is concluded that the ICRP dose coefficient should be used to calculate doses to workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- James W Marsh
- Public Health England. Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon. OX11 0RQ, UK
| | | | - Dominique Laurier
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, 92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex, France
| | - John D Harrison
- Public Health England. Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon. OX11 0RQ, UK
- Oxford Brookes University, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
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Kwan WS, Nikezic D, Roy VAL, Yu KN. Multiple Stressor Effects of Radon and Phthalates in Children: Background Information and Future Research. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:E2898. [PMID: 32331399 PMCID: PMC7215282 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17082898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The present paper reviews available background information for studying multiple stressor effects of radon (222Rn) and phthalates in children and provides insights on future directions. In realistic situations, living organisms are collectively subjected to many environmental stressors, with the resultant effects being referred to as multiple stressor effects. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can lead to lung cancers. On the other hand, phthalates are semi-volatile organic compounds widely applied as plasticizers to provide flexibility to plastic in consumer products. Links of phthalates to various health effects have been reported, including allergy and asthma. In the present review, the focus on indoor contaminants was due to their higher concentrations and to the higher indoor occupancy factor, while the focus on the pediatric population was due to their inherent sensitivity and their spending more time close to the floor. Two main future directions in studying multiple stressor effects of radon and phthalates in children were proposed. The first one was on computational modeling and micro-dosimetric studies, and the second one was on biological studies. In particular, dose-response relationship and effect-specific models for combined exposures to radon and phthalates would be necessary. The ideas and methodology behind such proposed research work are also applicable to studies on multiple stressor effects of collective exposures to other significant airborne contaminants, and to population groups other than children.
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Affiliation(s)
- W. S. Kwan
- Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China;
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - D. Nikezic
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, State University of Novi Pazar, Vuka Karadžića 9, RS-36300 Novi Pazar, Serbia;
- Faculty of Science, University of Kragujevac, R. Domanovica 12, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
| | | | - K. N. Yu
- Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China;
- State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
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Hofmann W, Li WB, Friedland W, Miller BW, Madas B, Bardiès M, Balásházy I. Internal microdosimetry of alpha-emitting radionuclides. RADIATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BIOPHYSICS 2020; 59:29-62. [PMID: 31863162 PMCID: PMC7012986 DOI: 10.1007/s00411-019-00826-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/08/2019] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
At the tissue level, energy deposition in cells is determined by the microdistribution of alpha-emitting radionuclides in relation to sensitive target cells. Furthermore, the highly localized energy deposition of alpha particle tracks and the limited range of alpha particles in tissue produce a highly inhomogeneous energy deposition in traversed cell nuclei. Thus, energy deposition in cell nuclei in a given tissue is characterized by the probability of alpha particle hits and, in the case of a hit, by the energy deposited there. In classical microdosimetry, the randomness of energy deposition in cellular sites is described by a stochastic quantity, the specific energy, which approximates the macroscopic dose for a sufficiently large number of energy deposition events. Typical examples of the alpha-emitting radionuclides in internal microdosimetry are radon progeny and plutonium in the lungs, plutonium and americium in bones, and radium in targeted radionuclide therapy. Several microdosimetric approaches have been proposed to relate specific energy distributions to radiobiological effects, such as hit-related concepts, LET and track length-based models, effect-specific interpretations of specific energy distributions, such as the dual radiation action theory or the hit-size effectiveness function, and finally track structure models. Since microdosimetry characterizes only the initial step of energy deposition, microdosimetric concepts are most successful in exposure situations where biological effects are dominated by energy deposition, but not by subsequently operating biological mechanisms. Indeed, the simulation of the combined action of physical and biological factors may eventually require the application of track structure models at the nanometer scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Werner Hofmann
- Biological Physics, Department of Chemistry and Physics of Materials, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Str. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Wei Bo Li
- Institute of Radiation Medicine, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Werner Friedland
- Institute of Radiation Medicine, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Brian W Miller
- Department of Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
- College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Balázs Madas
- Environmental Physics Department, MTA Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Manuel Bardiès
- Centre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, UMR 1037, INSERM Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Imre Balásházy
- Environmental Physics Department, MTA Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary
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Al-Jundi J, Li WB, Abusini M, Tschiersch J, Hoeschen C, Oeh U. Inhalation dose assessment of indoor radon progeny using biokinetic and dosimetric modeling and its application to Jordanian population. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2011; 102:574-580. [PMID: 21477902 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2010] [Revised: 02/24/2011] [Accepted: 03/03/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
High indoor radon concentrations in Jordan result in internal exposures of the residents due to the inhalation of radon and its short-lived progeny. It is therefore important to quantify the annual effective dose and further the radiation risk to the radon exposure. This study describes the methodology and the biokinetic and dosimetric models used for calculation of the inhalation doses exposed to radon progeny. The regional depositions of aerosol particles in the human respiratory tract were firstly calculated. For the attached progeny, the activity median aerodynamic diameters of 50 nm, 230 nm and 2500 nm were chosen to represent the nucleation, accumulation and coarse modes of the aerosol particles, respectively. For the unattached progeny, the activity median thermodynamic diameter of 1 nm was chosen to represent the free progeny nuclide in the room air. The biokinetic models developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) were used to calculate the nuclear transformations of radon progeny in the human body, and then the dosimetric model was applied to estimate the organ equivalent doses and the effective doses with the specific effective energies derived from the mathematical anthropomorphic phantoms. The dose conversion coefficient estimated in this study was 15 mSv WLM(-1) which was in the range of the values of 6-20 mSv WLM(-1) reported by other investigators. Implementing the average indoor radon concentration in Jordan, the annual effective doses were calculated to be 4.1 mSv y(-1) and 0.08 mSv y(-1) due to the inhalation of radon progeny and radon gas, respectively. The total annual effective dose estimated for Jordanian population was 4.2 mSv y(-1). This high annual effective dose calculated by the dosimetric approach using ICRP biokinetic and dosimetric models resulted in an increase of a factor of two in comparison to the value by epidemiological study. This phenomenon was presented by the ICRP in its new published statement on radon.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Al-Jundi
- Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Department of Medical Radiation Physics and Diagnostics, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
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Kada W, Dwaikat N, Datemichi J, Sato F, Murata I, Kato Y, Iida T. A twin-type airflow pulse ionization chamber for continuous alpha-radioactivity monitoring in atmosphere. RADIAT MEAS 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.radmeas.2010.07.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Richardson RB. Age-dependent changes in oxygen tension, radiation dose and sensitivity within normal and diseased coronary arteries-Part C: oxygen effect and its implications on high- and low-LET dose. Int J Radiat Biol 2009; 84:858-65. [PMID: 18979321 DOI: 10.1080/09553000802389686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The aim is to study the implications of the decrease in oxygen concentration in the coronary artery walls with age and atherosclerosis, particularly with regard to an associated reduction in the radiosensitivity to high-and low-linear-energy-transfer (LET) irradiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS In accompanying papers, the age-dependent morphology and composition for the wall layers of normal and diseased coronary arteries were developed in Part A from published data. In Part B, the oxygen concentration in the coronary artery walls was evaluated taking account the diffusion of oxygen from blood and the solubility of oxygen in tissues. In this part the oxygen effect was evaluated using published experimental data. RESULTS Based on simulation results from the one-dimensional diffusion model, the oxygen enhancement ratio (OER) is lower in the hypoxic vessel walls of aged and atherosclerotic arteries. Consequently the high-LET radiation damage arising from both the radon ((222)Rn) and thoron ((220)Rn) decay chains to the intimal layer of highly diseased arteries was estimated to be reduced by approximately 37% due to hypoxia. A greater reduction in radiosensitivity (51%) due to hypoxia was determined for low-LET irradiation. CONCLUSION These results imply that the oxygen effect, and other radiation biological factors, have a significant influence on radiation biological effects and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) to Japanese atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors and patients receiving radiotherapy of the mediastinum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard B Richardson
- Radiation Biology and Health Physics Branch, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Chalk River, Ontario, Canada.
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