Five-year follow-up study on individual doses of Korean radiation workers based on ICRP 103 (2006–2010)

Abstract

This study examined individual doses of Korean radiation workers divided into deep and surface doses based on the dose limits recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) or ICRP 103 (approved on March 2007) for 5 years from 2006 to 2010. In addition, the exposure doses were compared according to occupation, departments and scale of the medical institutions (primary, secondary and tertiary) as well as between dental hospitals and hospitals, which is currently an issue, using 116,220 sets of data on the quarterly and yearly exposure doses of 5811 Korean radiation workers measured over a 5-year period (January 2006 to December 2010). For the mean exposure doses according to occupation, both deep and surface doses were higher in radiological technicians than in the other occupations and there was a significant difference between radiological technicians and others (researchers and assistants) (p < 0.05). The results showed that none of the Korean radiation workers were exposed to radiation doses exceeding the maximum tolerant dose or 20 mSv/year recommended by the ICRP. When the mean exposure doses were compared according to the departments, both deep and surface doses were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the department of nuclear medicine than in the other departments (the department of biomedical engineering and the management team). For the mean exposure doses according to the scale of the medical institutions, the doses were highest in tertiary medical institutions followed in order by secondary and primary medical institutions (p < 0.05). A comparison of the mean exposure doses in dental hospitals and hospitals revealed both deep and surface doses to be higher in hospitals than in dental hospitals (p < 0.05). This study is considered to be used as basic data to establish a system for exposure dose management of radiation workers and more accurate studies on the radiation exposure are necessary in the future.