Reconstruction of Doses from Occupationally Related Medical X-Ray Examinations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kathren RL ; Shockley VE ; Thomas EM
• Description:
  Many nuclear weapons complex workers were required to undergo medical x-ray examinations as a condition of their employment. To ensure that their dose reconstructions are complete, it is necessary to include the contributions from these examinations. X-ray procedures that must be evaluated include: (1) posterior-anterior and lateral radiography, and/or photofluorography, of the chest; (2) anterior-posterior, lateral and oblique lumbar, cervical and thoracic radiography of the spine; and (3) radiography of the pelvis. Each is discussed in the context of conditions that existed during the time the worker was employed. For purposes of dose reconstruction, the x-ray beam size is especially important because the dose conversion factors (DCFs) for each specific body organ depend on whether it was in, or on the periphery of, the primary beam. The approach adopted was to use the DCFs, combined with the entrance kerma, to estimate the organ doses. In cases in which beam output data or information on the primary factors influencing the dose are not available, methods to provide conservative (i.e., claimant-favorable) entrance kerma and dose estimates are adopted. These include specific default values for chest radiography. To account for uncertainties, the estimated doses due to x-ray examinations are increased by 30%. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Nuclear Power Plants Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Radiation Radiography Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Dose-response Emission-sources Environmental-factors Exposure-assessment Medical-monitoring Neutron-radiation Nuclear-energy Nuclear-radiation Occupational-exposure Radiation-exposure Radiation-measurement Work-environment X-ray-analysis

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• ISSN:
  0017-9078
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OCAS - Office of Compensation Analysis and Support
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  107-118
• Volume:
  95
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034086
• Citation:
  Health Phys 2008 Jul; 95(1):107-118
• Contact Point Address:
  Vernon E. Shockley, Dade Moeller & Associates, 1835 Terminal Dr, Suite 200, Richland, WA 99354
• Email:
  SHOCKLEYX2@aol.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Health Physics
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ca1891a705407d34ea80e7e8996e76b8036e4c4a328ba36aa7065f23a820c7e628a0e2d2e99d6c4eb3743e521f817a7a9f2c566ad3d907a414c3cc0c2b312359
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/189456/cdc_189456_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 392.59 KB ]