The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is an independent, international,

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

, with the mission to protect people, animals, and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation. Its recommendations form the basis of

radiological protection Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Exposur ...

policy, regulations, guidelines and practice worldwide. The ICRP was effectively founded in 1928 at the second

International Congress of Radiology The International Congress of Radiology (ICR) is a meeting of radiologists for the exchange of ideas and the harmonisation of international standards and practice, first held in 1925 in London and held at regular intervals since then. Since 1994 ...

in Stockholm, Sweden but was then called the International X-ray and Radium Protection Committee (IXRPC). In 1950 it was restructured to take account of new uses of radiation outside the medical area and re-named as the ICRP. The ICRP is a sister organisation to the

International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) is a standardization body set up in 1925 by the International Congress of Radiology, originally as the X-Ray Unit Committee until 1950. Its objective "is to develop concepts, de ...

(ICRU). In general terms ICRU defines the units, and ICRP recommends, develops and maintains the International system of radiological protection which uses these units.

Operation

International policy system radiological protection

The ICRP is a not-for-profit organization registered as a charity in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and has its scientific secretariat in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario, Canada. It is an independent, international organization with more than two hundred volunteer members from approximately thirty countries on six continents, who represent the world's leading scientists and policy makers in the field of radiological protection. The International System of Radiological Protection has been developed by ICRP based on the current understanding of the science of radiation exposures and effects, and value judgements. These value judgements take into account societal expectations, ethics, and experience gained in application of the system. The work of the Commission centres on the operation of four main committees: ;Committee 1 Radiation Effects: Committee 1 considers the effects of radiation action from the subcellular to population and ecosystem levels, including the induction of cancer, heritable and other diseases, impairment of tissue/organ function and developmental defects, and assesses implications for protection of people and the environment. ;Committee 2 Doses from Radiation Exposure: Committee 2 develops dosimetric methodology for the assessment of internal and external radiation exposures, including reference biokinetic and dosimetric models and reference data and dose coefficients, for use in the protection of people and the environment. ;Committee 3 Radiological Protection in Medicine: Committee 3 addresses protection of persons and unborn children when ionising radiation is used in medical diagnosis, therapy, and biomedical research, as well as protection in veterinary medicine. ;Committee 4 Application of the Commission's Recommendations: Committee 4 provides advice on the application of the Commission's recommendations for the protection of people and the environment in an integrated manner for all exposure situations. Supporting these committees are Task Groups, established primarily to develop ICRP publications. The ICRP's key output is the production of regular publications disseminating information and recommendations through the "Annals of the ICRP".

International Symposia

These have become one of the main means of communicating advances by the ICRP in the form of technical presentations and reports from various committees drawn from the international radiological protection community. They have been held every two years since 2011. * 1st International ICRP symposium 2011. Key areas of focus: Various. * 2nd International ICRP symposium 2013. Key areas of focus: science,

NORM Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...

, emergency preparedness and recovery, medicine, environment. * 3rd International ICRP symposium 2015. Key areas of focus: Medicine, science and ethics * 4th International ICRP symposium 2017. Key areas of focus: Recovery after nuclear accidents * 5th International symposium 2019. Key areas of focus: Mines, Medicine and Space travel.

History

Early dangers

A year after Röntgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895, the American engineer Wolfram Fuchs gave what was probably the first radiation protection advice, but many early users of X-rays were initially unaware of the hazards and protection was rudimentary or non-existent. The dangers of radioactivity and radiation were not immediately recognized. The discovery of X‑rays had led to widespread experimentation by scientists, physicians, and inventors, but many people began recounting stories of burns, hair loss and worse in technical journals as early as 1896. In February 1896 Professor Daniel and Dr. Dudley of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

performed an experiment involving X-raying Dudley's head that resulted in his hair loss. A report by Dr. H.D. Hawks, a graduate of Columbia College, of his suffering severe hand and chest burns in an x-ray demonstration, was the first of many other reports in ''Electrical Review''. Many experimenters including

Elihu Thomson Elihu Thomson (March 29, 1853 – March 13, 1937) was an English-born American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electrical companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Early life He was born ...

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

's lab,

William J. Morton William James Morton (July 3, 1845 – March 26, 1920) was a United States physician, an authority in electrotherapeutics. During his career he was convicted for mail fraud, for which conviction he received a presidential pardon after serving so ...

, and

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

Ronald L. Kathern and Paul L. Ziemer, he First Fifty Years of Radiation Protection, physics.isu.edu
/ref> Other effects, including ultraviolet rays and ozone were sometimes blamed for the damage. Many

physicians A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

claimed that there were no effects from X-ray exposure at all.

Emergence of international standards – the ICR

Wide acceptance of ionizing radiation hazards was slow to emerge, and it was not until 1925 that the establishment of international radiological protection standards was discussed at the first International Congress of Radiology (ICR). The second ICR was held in Stockholm in 1928 and the ICRU proposed the adoption of the roentgen unit; and the ‘International X-ray and Radium Protection Committee’ (IXRPC) was formed. Rolf Sievert was named Chairman, and a driving force was George Kaye of the British National Physical Laboratory. The committee met for just a day at each of the ICR meetings in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1931, Zurich in 1934, and

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in 1937. At the 1934 meeting in Zurich, the Commission was faced with undue membership interference. The hosts insisted on having four Swiss participants (out of a total of 11 members), and the German authorities replaced the Jewish German member with another of their choice. In response to this, the Commission decided on new rules in order to establish full control over its future membership.

Birth of ICRP

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the increased range and quantity of

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

substances being handled as a result of military and civil nuclear programmes led to large additional groups of occupational workers and the public being potentially exposed to harmful levels of ionising radiation. Against this background, the first post-war ICR convened in London in 1950, but only two IXRPC members were still active from pre-war days; Lauriston Taylor and Rolf Sievert. Taylor was invited to revive and revise the IXRPC, which included renaming it as the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Sievert remained an active member, Sir Ernest Rock Carling (UK) was appointed as Chairman, and Walter Binks (UK) took over as Scientific Secretary because of Taylor's concurrent involvement with the sister organisation, ICRU. At that meeting, six sub-committees were established: * permissible dose for external radiation * permissible dose for internal radiation * protection against X rays generated at potentials up to 2 million volts * protection against X rays above 2 million volts, and beta rays and gamma rays * protection against heavy particles, including neutrons and protons * disposal of radioactive wastes and handling of radioisotopes The next meeting was in 1956 in Geneva. This was the first time that a formal meeting of the Commission took place independently of the ICR. At this meeting, ICRP became formally affiliated with the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) as a ‘participating non-governmental organisation’. In 1959, a formal relationship was established with the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

(IAEA), and subsequently with

UNSCEAR The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) was set up by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1955. 21 states are designated to provide scientists to serve as members of the committee which ...

, the

International Labour Office The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

(ILO), the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO), the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...

(ISO), and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. At the meeting in Stockholm in May 1962, the Commission also decided to reorganise the committee system in order to improve productivity and four committees were created: * C1: Radiation effects; * C2: Internal exposure; * C3: External exposure; * C4: Application of recommendations After many assessments of committee roles within an environment of increasing workloads and changes in societal emphasis, by 2008 the committee structure had become: * Committee 1 - Radiation effects Committee * Committee 2 - Doses from radiation exposure * Committee 3 - Protection in medicine * Committee 4 - Application of the Commission's recommendations * Committee 5 - Protection of the environmentAbridged from

Evolution of recommendations

The key output of the ICRP and its historic predecessor has been the issuing of recommendations in the form of reports and publications. The contents are made available for adoption by national regulatory bodies to the extent that they wish. Early recommendations were general guides on exposure and thereby dose limits, and it was not until the nuclear era that a greater degree of sophistication was required.

1951 recommendations

In the "1951 Recommendations" the commission recommended a maximum permissible dose of 0.5 roentgen (0.0044 grays) in any 1 week in the case of whole-body exposure to X and gamma radiation at the surface, and 1.5 roentgen (0.013 grays) in any 1 week in the case of exposure of hands and forearms. Maximum permissible body burdens were given for 11

nuclide A nuclide (or nucleide, from nucleus, also known as nuclear species) is a class of atoms characterized by their number of protons, ''Z'', their number of neutrons, ''N'', and their nuclear energy state. The word ''nuclide'' was coined by Truman ...

s. At this time it was first stated that the purpose of radiological protection was that of avoiding deterministic effects from occupational exposures, and the principle of radiological protection was to keep individuals below the relevant thresholds. A first recommendation on restrictions of exposures of members of the general public appeared in the commission's part of the 1954 Recommendations. It was also stated that ‘since no radiation level higher than the natural background can be regarded as absolutely "safe", the problem is to choose a practical level that, in the light of present knowledge, involves a negligible risk’. However, the Commission had not rejected the possibility of a threshold for

stochastic Stochastic (, ) refers to the property of being well described by a random probability distribution. Although stochasticity and randomness are distinct in that the former refers to a modeling approach and the latter refers to phenomena themselv ...

effects. At this time the

rad RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley R ...

and rem were introduced for absorbed dose and RBE-weighted dose respectively. At its 1956 meeting the concept of a controlled area and radiation safety officer were introduced, and the first specific advice was given for pregnant women.

"Publication 1"

In 1957, there was pressure on ICRP from both the World Health Organisation and UNSCEAR to reveal all of the decisions from its 1956 meeting in Geneva. The final document, the Commission's 1958 Recommendations was the first ICRP report published by

Pergamon Press Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, that published scientific and medical books and journals. Originally called Butterworth-Springer, it is now an imprint of Elsevier. History The cor ...

. The 1958 Recommendations are usually referred to as ‘Publication 1’. The significance of stochastic effects began to influence the commission's policy and a new set of recommendations was published as Publication 9 in 1966. However, during development its editors became concerned about the many different opinions on the risk of stochastic effects. The Commission therefore asked a working group to consider these, and their report, Publication 8 (1966), for the first time for the ICRP summarised the current knowledge about radiation risks, both somatic and genetic. Publication 9 then followed, and substantially changed radiation protection emphasis by moving from deterministic to stochastic effects.

Reference man

In October 1974, the official definition of Reference man was adopted by the ICRP: “Reference man is defined as being between 20-30 years of age, weighing 70 kg, is 170 cm in height, and lives in a climate with an average temperature of from 10 to 20 degrees C. He is a

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

and is a Western European or North American in habitat and custom.” The reference man is created for the estimation of radiation doses without adverse health effects.

Principles of protection

In 1977 Publication 26 set out the new system of dose limitation and introduced the three principles of protection: * no practice shall be adopted unless its introduction produces a positive net benefit * all exposures shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account * the doses to individuals shall not exceed the limits recommended for the appropriate circumstances by the Commission These principles have since become known as justification, optimisation (as low as reasonably achievable), and the application of dose limits. The optimisation principle was introduced because of the need to find some way of balancing costs and benefits of the introduction of a radiation source involving ionising radiation or radionuclides. The 1977 Recommendations were very concerned with the

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

basis of how to decide what is reasonably achievable in dose reduction. The principle of justification aims to do more good than harm, and that of optimisation aims to maximise the margin of good over harm for society as a whole. They therefore satisfy the

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charac ...

ethical principle proposed primarily by

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and

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

. Utilitarians judge actions by their overall consequences, usually by comparing, in monetary terms, the relevant benefits obtained by a particular protective measure with the net cost of introducing that measure. On the other hand, the principle of applying dose limits aims to protect the rights of the individual not to be exposed to an excessive level of harm, even if this could cause great problems for society at large. This principle therefore satisfies the

Deontological In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: + ) is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, ra ...

principle of ethics, proposed primarily by

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

. Consequently, the concept of the

collective dose The collective effective dose, dose quantity S, is calculated as the sum of all individual effective doses over the time period or during the operation being considered due to ionizing radiation. It can be used to estimate the total health effects ...

was introduced to facilitate

cost–benefit analysis Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes also called benefit–cost analysis, is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives. It is used to determine options which provide the best approach to achieving benefits ...

and to restrict the uncontrolled build-up of exposure to long-lived radio nuclides in the environment. With the global expansion of nuclear reactors and reprocessing it was feared global doses could again reach the levels seen from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. So, by 1977, the establishment of dose limits was secondary to the establishment of cost–benefit analysis and use of collective dose.

Re-evaluation of doses

During the 1980s, there were re-evaluations of the survivors of the

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

, partly due to revisions in the

dosimetry Radiation dosimetry in the fields of health physics and radiation protection is the measurement, calculation and assessment of the ionizing radiation dose absorbed by an object, usually the human body. This applies both internally, due to ingested o ...

. The risks of exposure were claimed to be higher than those used by ICRP, and pressures began to appear for a reduction in dose limits. By 1989, the commission had itself revised upwards its estimates of the risks of

carcinogenesis Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, genetic, and epigenetic levels and abnor ...

from exposure to ionising radiation. The following year, it adopted its 1990 Recommendations for a ‘system of radiological protection’. The principles of protection recommended by the Commission were still based on the general principles given in Publication 26. However, there were important additions which weakened the link to cost benefit analysis and collective dose, and strengthened the protection of the individual, which reflected changes in societal values: * No practice involving exposures to radiation should be adopted unless it produces sufficient benefit to the exposed individuals or to society to offset the radiation detriment it causes. (The justification of a practice) * In relation to any particular source within a practice, the magnitude of individual doses, the number of people exposed, and the likelihood of incurring exposures where these are not certain to be received should all be kept as low as reasonably achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account. This procedure should be constrained by restrictions on the doses to individuals (dose constraints), or on the risks to individuals in the case of potential exposures (risk constraints) so as to limit the inequity likely to result from the inherent economic and social judgements. (The optimisation of protection) * The exposure of individuals resulting from the combination of all the relevant practices should be subject to dose limits, or to some control of risk in the case of potential exposures. These are aimed at ensuring that no individual is exposed to radiation risks that are judged to be unacceptable from these practices in any normal circumstances.

21st century

In the 21st century, the latest overall recommendations on an international system of radiological protection appeared. ICRP Publication 103 (2007), after two phases of international public consultation, has resulted in more continuity than change. Some recommendations remain because they work and are clear, others have been updated because understanding has evolved, some items have been added because there has been a void, and some concepts are better explained because more guidance is needed.

Radiation quantities

In collaboration with the ICRU, the commission has assisted in defining the use of many of the dose quantities in the accompanying diagram. The table below shows the number of different units for various quantities and is indicative of changes of thinking in world metrology, especially the movement from cgs to SI units. Although the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission permits the use of the units

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, rad, and rem alongside SI units, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

European units of measurement directives As of 2009, the European Union had issued two units of measurement directives: In 1971 it issued Directive 71/354/EEC which required EU member states to standardise on the International System of Units (SI) rather than use a variety of CGS ...

required that their use for "public health ... purposes" be phased out by 31 December 1985.

Awards

ICRP issues two awards the Bo Lindell Medal which is awarded annually and the Gold Medal for Radiation Protection which is issued every four years since 1962.

Gold Medal for Radiation Protection

The recipients of the gold medal for Radiation Protection are listed below: * 2020: Dale Preston * 2016: Ethel Gilbert * 2012: Keith Eckerman * 2008: K Sankaranarayanan * 2004:

Richard Doll Sir William Richard Shaboe Doll (28 October 1912 – 24 July 2005) was a British physician who became an epidemiologist in the mid-20th century and made important contributions to that discipline. He was a pioneer in research linking smoking ...

* 2000: Angelina Guskova * 1993: I Shigematsu * 1989: * 1985: S Takahashi * 1981: Edward E. Pochin * 1973:

Lauriston S. Taylor Lauriston S. Taylor (1 June 1902 – 26 November 2004) was an American physicist known for his work in the field of radiation protection and measurement. Career He established standards for X-ray radiation exposure for the first time in the 1920s, ...

* 1965:

William Valentine Mayneord William Valentine Mayneord, CBE FRS (14 February 1902 – 10 August 1988) was a British physicist and pioneer in the field of medical physics. Early life and education He was born in Redditch, Worcestershire to Walter and Elizabeth Mayneord b ...

* 1962: W Binks & Karl Z. Morgan

Bo Lindell Medal

The recipients of the Bo Lindell Medal for the Promotion of Radiological Protection are listed below: * 2021: Haruyuki Ogino (Japan) * 2019: Elizabeth Ainsbury (UK) * 2018: Nicole E. Martinez (USA)

References

External links

Eurados
- The European radiation dosimetry group
"The confusing world of radiation dosimetry"
- M.A. Boyd, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. An account of chronological differences between USA and ICRP dosimetry systems.

Full text of ICRP report 103 (2007) These revised Recommendations for a System of Radiological Protection formally replace the Commission’s 1990 recommendations. {{authority control Organizations established in 1928 International nuclear energy organizations International medical and health organizations Nuclear safety and security Nuclear medicine organizations Radiation protection Standards organizations in Canada