Radiation protection of the eye lens in medical workers—basis and impact of the ICRP recommendations

Barnard, S.; Ainsbury, E.A.; Quinlan, R.A.; Buffler, S.

doi:10.1259/bjr.20151034

Radiation protection of the eye lens in medical workers—basis and impact of the ICRP recommendations

Barnard, S.; Ainsbury, E.A.; Quinlan, R.A.; Buffler, S.

Authors

S. Barnard

E.A. Ainsbury

Professor Roy Quinlan r.a.quinlan@durham.ac.uk
Emeritus Professor

S. Buffler

Abstract

The aim of this article was to explore the evidence for the revised European Union basic safety standard (BSS) radiation dose limits to the lens of the eye, in the context of medical occupational radiation exposures. Publications in the open literature have been reviewed in order to draw conclusions on the exposure profiles and doses received by medical radiation workers and to bring together the limited evidence for cataract development in medical occupationally exposed populations. The current status of relevant radiation-protection and monitoring practices and procedures is also considered. In conclusion, medical radiation workers do receive high doses in some circumstances, and thus working practices will be impacted by the new BSS. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that compliance with the new lower dose limits will be possible, although education and training of staff alongside effective use of personal protective equipment will be paramount. A number of suggested actions are given with the aim of assisting medical and associated radiation-protection professionals in understanding the requirements.

Citation

Barnard, S., Ainsbury, E., Quinlan, R., & Buffler, S. (2016). Radiation protection of the eye lens in medical workers—basis and impact of the ICRP recommendations. British Journal of Radiology, 89(1060), Article 20151034. https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20151034

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 26, 2016
Online Publication Date	Feb 12, 2016
Publication Date	Feb 12, 2016
Deposit Date	Mar 30, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Mar 31, 2016
Journal	British Journal of Radiology
Print ISSN	0007-1285
Electronic ISSN	1748-880X
Publisher	British Institute of Radiology
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	89
Issue	1060
Article Number	20151034
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20151034

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Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Authors. Published by the British Institute of Radiology This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, which permits unrestricted non-commercial reuse, provided the original author and source are credited.