Lifetime Risk of Radiation Induced Severe Hereditary Stochastic (SHS) Effects in Medical Radiation Personnel

Abstract

Background: Hereditary risk assessments in medical radiation workers must be accentuated as a precaution against genetic diseases. Ionizing radiations can induce hereditary or genetic radiation effects. Aim: To evaluate the lifetime risk of severe hereditary stochastic (SHS) effects in INMOL’s medical radiation personnel. Methods: The determination of the ‘whole-body’ effective doses was performed by ‘dose assessment algorithm’. We adopted the procedure described by ICRP for the assessment of lifetime severe hereditary annual risks by using ‘nominal probability coefficient’. Results: The AAEDs were between 1.41-1.79 mSv (in NM), 1.07-1.43 mSv (in RT) and 1.21-1.70 mSv (in RD) during 2014-2018. A declining trend is observed in AAED values in five consecutive years, due to improvements in radiation protection and safety measures. The risks of severe hereditary effects were also decreased from 2014-2018. The SHS risk was decreased from 5.012×10-4 to 3.948 ×10-4 in NM, 4.004×10-4 to 2.996×10-4 in RT and 4.76×10-4 to 3.388×10-4 in DR department. Conclusion: This study is emphasizing towards evaluating risks of hereditary effects from chronic exposure of radiations in occupational workers to avoid further late genetic complications. Such quantitative indicators would be useful in comparing other lifetime death risks from other harmful substances. Keywords: Hereditary Stochastic Effects; Annual Average Effective Doses; Nominal Probability Coefficient; Medical Radiation; Occupational Radiation Risk Assessments