Owners
Within a radiation safety program, the goal of a dosimetry service is to ensure that doses to workers and members of the public are:
- As low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)
- Below state and federal regulation limits
The following table shows the dose limits for adult workers, minor workers, declared pregnant women, and members of the public. Radiation doses should be below 10% of these limits.
| Whole body dose in one year | Other limits | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult workers | 5 rem | Lens: 15 rem in one year
Skin, organ, extremities: 50 rem in one year |
| Minor workers | 10% of adult limit | 10% of adult limit |
| Declared pregnant women | 0.5 rem fetal dose | 50 millirem fetal dose in one month
Skin, lens, extremities: same as adult worker |
| Members of the public | 0.1 rem | 2 millirem in one hour |
The law requires radiation dose measurements for potentially exposed workers who might exceed 10% of the occupational limit (500 millirem). Years of monitoring history demonstrate that most exposures are nondetectable. We still measure radiation doses for certain personnel to ensure that dose levels are ALARA. We also keep exposure records, as is required.
Information regarding who must wear dosimeters in the research community can be found in the Controlled Radiation Authorization (CRA) for each research area, under the Principal Investigator (PI). If your location or group in the clinic or research community receives dosimeters, you should have a dosimetry contact. This contact will help you get a dosimeter (if needed).
If you require dosimetry for your work with sources of radiation or have questions about dosimetry, please contact the Health Physics Dosimetry Coordinator (redmanha@stanford.edu) or call Health Physics at (650) 723-3201.
