Boyd M A
Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, US Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 6608J, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20460, USA.
Ann ICRP. 2012 Oct-Dec;41(3-4):57-63. doi: 10.1016/j.icrp.2012.06.003. Epub 2012 Aug 22.
The system of radiation protection has its origins in the early efforts to protect people from x rays and radium. It was at the Second International Congress of Radiology in Stockholm in 1928 where the first radiation protection recommendations were adopted. The system of protection steadily evolved as new sources of exposure arose and understanding of radiation-related health risks improved. Safeguarding against these risks has required regulators to set enforceable (i.e. measurable) standards. From erythema dose to tolerance dose, critical organ dose to effective dose equivalent, and now effective dose, the units used to set these limits have evolved along with the science underpinning them. Similarly, the definition of the person or group being protected has changed - from Standard Man to Reference Man to Reference Person, with age and gender differences now considered explicitly. As regulators look towards implementing the changes in the 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), there remain questions about how to translate an optimisation-based system of constraints and reference levels into the more familiar regime of enforceable limits. Nevertheless, as the new ICRP Recommendations are refinements of a system that did the job it was designed to do more than adequately, so too will the new system of radiation protection be fit for purpose.
辐射防护体系起源于早期保护人们免受X射线和镭辐射的努力。1928年在斯德哥尔摩召开的第二届国际放射学大会上通过了首批辐射防护建议。随着新的辐射源出现以及对辐射相关健康风险的认识不断提高，防护体系稳步发展。为防范这些风险，监管机构需要制定可执行（即可测量）的标准。从红斑剂量到耐受剂量，从关键器官剂量到有效剂量当量，再到如今的有效剂量，用于设定这些限值的单位随着支撑它们的科学发展而演变。同样，受保护人员或群体的定义也发生了变化——从标准人到参考人再到参考个体，现在明确考虑了年龄和性别差异。当监管机构着手实施国际放射防护委员会（ICRP）2007年建议中的各项变更时，对于如何将基于优化的约束和参考水平体系转化为更为人们所熟悉的可执行限值制度，仍然存在一些问题。然而，由于ICRP的新建议是对一个已出色完成其设计任务的体系的完善，新的辐射防护体系也将适用于其目的。
