As many may already know the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) is in the process of releasing its latest report, No. 160, Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the United States. One of the hall
marks of that report is the pie chart showing the distribution of ionizing radiation exposure, both man made and natural to the general public. This report comes 19 years after NCRP Report No. 93 on the same subject. I enclose the pie charts from both reports
for comparison and several points of discussion.
1. There is a 19 year span between the two charts
2. Although the radon percentage has decreased from 55% to 37% it is still the single largest contributor to general public dose.
3. The reason for radon's decrease is due to the significant increase in the medical diagnostic and nuclear medicine exposure, primarily the
increase in CT scans.
4. Finally, thoron has now received recognition along with radon exposure.
And finally on a note of commentary, maybe in another 19 years the current contribution from Occupational dose of <0.1% may be larger due to more significant radon/thoron measurements in various workplaces.
Robert K. Lewis | Rad. Prot. Supervisor
Department of Environmental Protection
Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market Street | Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717.783.4870 | Fax: 717.783.8965
www.depweb.state.pa.us
Robert K. Lewis | Rad. Prot. Supervisor
Department of Environmental Protection
Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market Street | Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717.783.4870 | Fax: 717.783.8965
www.depweb.state.pa.us
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From Name
Lewis, Robert K.
From Address
rolewis@STATE.PA.US