Radon 2000 Radiation Protection Dosimetry,
1
Nucl. Med. Biol Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 807-808, 1993 0 Pergamon Press Ltd 1993. Printed in Great Britain 0883-2897/93 $6.00 + 0.00 Radon 2000. By M. C. O’RIORDAN and J. C. H. MILES (Eds). Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 42, No. 2, 1992. Nuclear Technology Publishing, Ashford, U.K. ISBN 1 870965 23 X. 176 pp. Price: E27.00. Radon may now, with hindsight, be designated the oldest known human carcinogen, and it is certainly the one with the most ubiquitous distribution in the environment. How- ever, serious concern about the effects of radon exposure in the home or workplace has emerged only within the last two decades. This hardbound special issue of Radiation Protec- tion Dosimetry, which was issued to all subscribers to the journal without extra charge, contains the proceedings of a conference held in London. U.K. on 2627 March 1992. The aim of the conference was to present and review the full range of work on radon in the U.K. with emphasis on future prospects and problems. The discussions, which range over many topics, begin with an excellent short survey by Sir Richard Doll on risks from radon which was followed by presentations by senior British officials on “Radon in the Workplace” (J. D. Rimington); “Setting Radon in Context” (J. Metters) and the U.K. Government’s Radon Programme (J. Hobson). An international element was introduced by three papers dis- cussing radon as a case study in risk communication (R. J. Guimond and S. D. Page, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency); the Swedish Radon Programme (J. 0. Snihs, Swedish Radiation Protection Institute) and the CEC Ra- don Research Programme (M. Olast and J. Sinnaeve, CEC Radiation Protection Research Action). Moving on to control and monitoring aspects, Geoff Webb of the U.K. National Radiological Protection Board discussed radon exposure, measurements, risks and controls; P. Jacques of the British Trades Union Council considered the protection of workers from radon and A. Blythe presented the views of a working party of the U.K. Institution of Environmental Health Officers on the role of local authorities in radon monitoring and control. Turning to remedial measures the principles of remedial action were described by M. Woollis- croft of the U.K. Building Research Establishment, the architect’s view was presented by S. E. Bell and the practical measures were discussed in papers from P. D. Johnson and I. C. Orme; R. Malpass and from K. G. R. Famham. Two other papers discussed the impact of radon on the property market (M. Hollis) and on the conveyance of property title in England and Wales (J. E. Adams). The book ends with two presentations of a more philosophical character, P. Green, of Friends of the Earth poses the question “Radon- Whose Responsibility?‘, his view being that the present voluntary system, of householders requesting radon measurements and deciding if they then wish to institute any necessary remedial measures, is not working and should be replaced by “Neighbourhood Radiation Guardians” who advise on remedial measures and, by implication, pressurize the householder to institute them. The final paper by T. R. Lee of the University of St Andrews discusses public perception of radon and concludes the majority of the population are so unmoved by the radon problem that we need “a social movement to be generated in favour of radon-free zones”. This well-produced volume presents a very valuable syn- thesis of information on a wide range of topics related to environmental radon, which is clearly presented and gener- ally in a form which should make it equally understandable to the lay person as well as to the expert. Although biased towards the U.K. situation, much of the discussion applies equally well to other countries and the book makes a very worthwhile contribution to public discussion of the radon issue. Respiratory Tract Dosiitry. By R. A. GU~LMETTE and B. B. I!&ECKF.R (Eds). Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 38, Nos l-3, 1991. Nuclear Technology Publishing, Ashford, U.K. ISBN 1870965 09 4; CONF 900733; EUR 14108 EN. 280 pp. Price: f80.00. This monograph records the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Respiratory Tract Dosimetry which was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in July 1990 under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Commission of the European Communities and the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute. Since inhalation represents a major route of intake of radionuclides into the human body and the types and the biokinetics of the various inhaled materials are many and varied, respiratory tract dosimetry is one of the most important and complex areas of internal dosimetry; this importance is reflected by the attendance list for the workshop which reads like a Who’s Who of radionuclide dosimetry. Some 34 papers were presented, of which 33 appear in the proceedings; the thirty-fourth paper was inadvertently omitted but was sub- sequently published in Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 37, No.4, pp. 221-230 (1991). These papers are classified under the headings of respiratory tract deposition and factors modifying deposition, airway dosimetry, the interpretation of human bioassay data, the proposed ICRP and NCRP respiratory tract models and factors affecting regional dosimetry and experimental results, the work con- cludes with the report of a panel discussion on future research needs and some concluding remarks by Bruce Boecker. The individual papers cover many topics, theoreti- cal, practical, experimental and computational and are, in general, of a very high standard, the ensuing discussions are recorded for most of the papers. Although, as this excellent state-of-the-art survey clearly demonstrates, great progress has been made in respiratory tract dosimetry there still remain important areas for further study such as the critical cells at risk, the uncertainties both in the risk estimates and in the biokinetic data; the development of the dosimetric models so that they are also applicable to the interpretation of biokinetic data. This monograph must be considered as essential reading for all who are concerned with radio- nuclide metabolism and dosimetry, the production is of a high standard, although a number of typographical errors have slipped through, and the price is not unduly high (subscribers to Radiation Protection Dosimetry received this special issue as part of their subscription). Skla Dosimetry. By H. G. MENZEL,P. CHRISTENSEN and J. A. DENNIS (Eds).-Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 39, Nos l-3. 1991. Nuclear Technolonv Publishinn. Ashford. U.K. ISBN 1870965 12 4; CONF sib51 18; EUci4092 EN: 208~~. Price: E60.00. This hard-bound special issue of Radiation Protection Dosimetry records the proceedings of a workshop on Skin Dosimetry-Radiological Protection Aspects which was 807
Transcript of Radon 2000 Radiation Protection Dosimetry,
Nucl. Med. Biol Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 807-808, 1993 0 Pergamon Press Ltd 1993. Printed in Great Britain 0883-2897/93 $6.00 + 0.00
Radon 2000. By M. C. O’RIORDAN and J. C. H. MILES (Eds). Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 42, No. 2, 1992. Nuclear Technology Publishing, Ashford, U.K. ISBN 1 870965 23 X. 176 pp. Price: E27.00.
Radon may now, with hindsight, be designated the oldest known human carcinogen, and it is certainly the one with the most ubiquitous distribution in the environment. How- ever, serious concern about the effects of radon exposure in the home or workplace has emerged only within the last two decades. This hardbound special issue of Radiation Protec- tion Dosimetry, which was issued to all subscribers to the journal without extra charge, contains the proceedings of a conference held in London. U.K. on 2627 March 1992. The aim of the conference was to present and review the full range of work on radon in the U.K. with emphasis on future prospects and problems.
The discussions, which range over many topics, begin with an excellent short survey by Sir Richard Doll on risks from radon which was followed by presentations by senior British officials on “Radon in the Workplace” (J. D. Rimington); “Setting Radon in Context” (J. Metters) and the U.K. Government’s Radon Programme (J. Hobson). An international element was introduced by three papers dis- cussing radon as a case study in risk communication (R. J. Guimond and S. D. Page, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency); the Swedish Radon Programme (J. 0. Snihs, Swedish Radiation Protection Institute) and the CEC Ra- don Research Programme (M. Olast and J. Sinnaeve, CEC Radiation Protection Research Action). Moving on to control and monitoring aspects, Geoff Webb of the U.K. National Radiological Protection Board discussed radon exposure, measurements, risks and controls; P. Jacques of the British Trades Union Council considered the protection of workers from radon and A. Blythe presented the views of a working party of the U.K. Institution of Environmental Health Officers on the role of local authorities in radon monitoring and control. Turning to remedial measures the principles of remedial action were described by M. Woollis- croft of the U.K. Building Research Establishment, the architect’s view was presented by S. E. Bell and the practical measures were discussed in papers from P. D. Johnson and I. C. Orme; R. Malpass and from K. G. R. Famham. Two other papers discussed the impact of radon on the property market (M. Hollis) and on the conveyance of property title in England and Wales (J. E. Adams). The book ends with two presentations of a more philosophical character, P. Green, of Friends of the Earth poses the question “Radon- Whose Responsibility?‘, his view being that the present voluntary system, of householders requesting radon measurements and deciding if they then wish to institute any necessary remedial measures, is not working and should be replaced by “Neighbourhood Radiation Guardians” who advise on remedial measures and, by implication, pressurize the householder to institute them. The final paper by T. R. Lee of the University of St Andrews discusses public perception of radon and concludes the majority of the population are so unmoved by the radon problem that we need “a social movement to be generated in favour of radon-free zones”.
This well-produced volume presents a very valuable syn- thesis of information on a wide range of topics related to environmental radon, which is clearly presented and gener- ally in a form which should make it equally understandable to the lay person as well as to the expert. Although biased towards the U.K. situation, much of the discussion applies equally well to other countries and the book makes a very worthwhile contribution to public discussion of the radon issue.
Respiratory Tract Dosiitry. By R. A. GU~LMETTE and B. B. I!&ECKF.R (Eds). Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 38, Nos l-3, 1991. Nuclear Technology Publishing, Ashford, U.K. ISBN 1870965 09 4; CONF 900733; EUR 14108 EN. 280 pp. Price: f80.00.
This monograph records the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Respiratory Tract Dosimetry which was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in July 1990 under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Commission of the European Communities and the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute. Since inhalation represents a major route of intake of radionuclides into the human body and the types and the biokinetics of the various inhaled materials are many and varied, respiratory tract dosimetry is one of the most important and complex areas of internal dosimetry; this importance is reflected by the attendance list for the workshop which reads like a Who’s Who of radionuclide dosimetry. Some 34 papers were presented, of which 33 appear in the proceedings; the thirty-fourth paper was inadvertently omitted but was sub- sequently published in Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 37, No.4, pp. 221-230 (1991). These papers are classified under the headings of respiratory tract deposition and factors modifying deposition, airway dosimetry, the interpretation of human bioassay data, the proposed ICRP and NCRP respiratory tract models and factors affecting regional dosimetry and experimental results, the work con- cludes with the report of a panel discussion on future research needs and some concluding remarks by Bruce Boecker. The individual papers cover many topics, theoreti- cal, practical, experimental and computational and are, in general, of a very high standard, the ensuing discussions are recorded for most of the papers. Although, as this excellent state-of-the-art survey clearly demonstrates, great progress has been made in respiratory tract dosimetry there still remain important areas for further study such as the critical cells at risk, the uncertainties both in the risk estimates and in the biokinetic data; the development of the dosimetric models so that they are also applicable to the interpretation of biokinetic data. This monograph must be considered as essential reading for all who are concerned with radio- nuclide metabolism and dosimetry, the production is of a high standard, although a number of typographical errors have slipped through, and the price is not unduly high (subscribers to Radiation Protection Dosimetry received this special issue as part of their subscription).
Skla Dosimetry. By H. G. MENZEL, P. CHRISTENSEN and J. A. DENNIS (Eds).-Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 39, Nos l-3. 1991. Nuclear Technolonv Publishinn. Ashford. U.K. ISBN 1870965 12 4; CONF sib51 18; EUci4092 EN: 208~~. Price: E60.00.
This hard-bound special issue of Radiation Protection Dosimetry records the proceedings of a workshop on Skin Dosimetry-Radiological Protection Aspects which was
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