Whole-body doses of occupationally exposed female workers in Nigeria (1999-2001).

The work described in this note is based on the national dose registry of radiation workers in Nigeria kept by the Federal Radiation Protection Service. In each of the three years (1999-2001) used for this analysis, the number of male radiation workers was more than that of female radiation workers in both medicine and industry. The ratio of the number of female radiation workers to that of their male counterparts, however, is smaller in industry. The mean of the annual doses of all radiation workers increased from 3.6 mSv in 1999 to 4.7 mSv in 2000 and to 7.7 mSv in 2001. This increase was a result of the yearly increase in mean annual doses to radiation workers in industry. In the industrial category, the mean annual doses of female radiation workers were higher than those of their male counterparts in 1999 and 2001 in both occupation categories. In 2000, while the mean annual doses were the same for both male and female radiation workers in the medical category, the mean annual dose of male radiation workers was higher than that of female radiation workers in industry. Female radiation workers received the highest annual doses in 1999 and 2001. These results indicate the need for the regulatory authority to pay more careful attention to the control of female radiation workers' exposures.