Interim Report of the JHPS Expert Committee on Radiation Protection of the Lens of the Eye (Ⅱ)

-The Dosimetry Method for the Lens of the Eye of Workers in Japan-

Abstract

A brief review is given of the history and methodology of external dosimetry for the lens of the eye. Under the 1989 revision to domestic radiological protection regulations, the concept on the effective dose equivalent and the dose limit to the lens of the eye (150 mSv/y) both introduced in the ICRP 1977 recommendations has changed nationwide the external monitoring methodology in non-uniform exposure situations to the trunk of a radiological worker. In such situations, which are often created by the presence of a protective apron, the worker is required to use at least two personal dosemeters, one worn on the trunk under the apron and the other, typically, at the collar over the apron. The latter dosemeter serves the dual purpose of providing the dose profile across the trunk for improved effective dose equivalent assessment and of estimating the dose to lens of the eye. The greater or appropriate value between H_p(10) and H_p(0.07), given by the dosemeter, is generally used as a surrogate of H_p(3) for recording the dose to the lens of the eye. The above-mentioned methodology was continued in the latest 2001 revision to the relevant regulations.