Radiation Safety
Most European states have strict national legislation defining radiation protection limit values and standards for ionising radiation. Under the EURATOM Treaty the European Commission has considerable authority in the field of radiation safety. In formulating legislation, the EU takes account of international recommendations by scientific bodies such as UNSCEAR and IARC as well as IAEA (see links below).
EU directives define the parameters of radiation protection legislation in EU member states. Radiation protection in the medical field is addressed by the Medical Exposure Directive (MED) of 30 June 1997.
Council Directive 97/43/ Euratom (PDF download 58 KB)
Alliance for MRI Press Release June 2010 (PDF download 102 KB)
LINKS
EU
The European Commission Radiation Protection Unit aims to protect the health of exposed workers and members of the public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation. Legislation, recommendations, reports, studies and other publications can be found on the relevant website.
www.euratom.org
IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, develops nuclear safety standards and promotes the achievement and maintenance of high levels of safety in applications of nuclear energy, as well as the protection of human health and the environment against ionizing radiation.
www.iaea.org
UNSCEAR
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation is comprised of scientists from 21 Member States. The UNSCEAR Secretariat, located in Vienna publishes bi-annually updated reports on sources and effects of ionizing radiation that are available on the UNSCEAR website.
www.unscear.org
ICRP
The International Commission on Radiological Protection, a registered charity in the UK with a scientific secretariat in Stockholm, Sweden, develops recommendations for radiation protection regulation. Each year, ICRP produces an Annual Report, summarising recent achievements in the field of radiological protection as well as reports on radiopharmaceuticals.
www.icrp.org
ICNIRP
The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection is a registered charity in Germany and consists of a main Commission of 14 members, 4 Scientific Standing Committees covering Epidemiology, Biology, Dosimetry and Optical Radiation and a number of consulting experts.
www.icnirp.org
Alliance for MRI
On 9th March the European Society of Radiology launched the ‘Alliance for MRI’, together with Dr Swoboda, member of the European Parliament, and Vice-Chair of the Party of European Socialists and the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA).
The ‘Alliance for MRI’ is a coalition of European Parliamentarians, patient groups, leading European scientists and the medical community, who together are seeking to avert the serious threat posed by EU health and safety legislation to the clinical and research use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
European Society of Radiology
Alliance for MRI (PDF download 84 KB)
ESR Position Paper on Implications of Crozier Study (PDF download 92 KB)