Publications
Risk Assessment
This page offers risk assessment publications, developed by the Radiation Protection Program. You can downloaded them to your computer or view them on-line.
On this page:
- Federal Guidance Reports
- Heast Radionuclides Table -- Radionuclides Slope Factors
- EPA Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes
- Comparative Dosimetry of BEIR VI Revisited
- Modifying Risk Models based on BEIR VII
- Ground-Water Modeling
- Radiation Risk Assessment, Workshop Proceedings
- Bibliography
Federal Guidance Reports and Related Documents
Federal
Guidance Report 13: Cancer Risk Coefficients for Environmental
Exposure to Radionuclides (PDF) (335pp, 3.06Mb [about pdf format]) [EPA 402-R-99-001
September 1999]
Includes radionuclide-specific lifetime radiogenic cancer risk
coefficients for the U.S. population, based on age-dependent
intake, dosimetry, and risk models.
Update to the
Federal Guidance Report No. 13
CD Supplement (April 2002)
Uncertainties in Cancer Risk Coefficients for Environmental Exposure to Radionuclides (PDF)(148pp, 1.35Mb [about pdf format]) [ORNL/TM-2006/583 January 2007]
This report is from a joint study by EPA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory on uncertainties of the federal guidance report risk coefficients for both ingestion and inhalation of radionuclides.
Estimating Radiogenic
Cancer Risks (PDF) (68pp, 271.29Kb [about pdf format]) [EPA 402-R-93-076
June 1994]
This document presents a
revised methodology for EPA's estimation of cancer risks due
to low-LET radiation exposures developed in light of information
that has become available since the publication of BEIR III,
especially new information on the Japanese atomic bomb survivors.
NOTE: We have included minor updates to this methodology in
Federal Guidance Report 13.
Addendum: Uncertainty
Analysis (PDF) (47pp, 226.77Kb [about pdf format]) [EPA
402-R-99-003]
The analysis describes a method for estimating
the uncertainties in EPA's risk projections for cancer risk from
low-LET radiation exposures.
Federal
Guidance Report 12: External Exposure to Radionuclides In
Air, Water, and Soil (PDF) (238pp,
1.61Mb [about pdf format]) [EPA 402-R-93-081 September 1993]
Includes exposure-to-dose
coefficients for general application, based on the 1987 Federal
Radiation Protection Guidance.
Federal
Guidance Report 11: Limiting Values of Radionuclide Intake and
Air Concentration and Dose Conversion Factors for Inhalation,
Submersion, and Ingestion (PDF) (224pp, 15.20Mb [about pdf format]) [EPA 520/1-88-020
September 1988]
Includes derived guides for control of occupational exposure
and exposure-to-dose conversion factors for general application,
based on the 1987 Federal Radiation Protection Guidance.
(HEAST) Radionuclides Table -- Radionuclide Slope Factors
Health Effects Assessment Summary
Tables (HEAST) Radionuclides Table
These tables
contain radionuclide slope factors for estimating cancer
risks at sites managed under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act. EPA has developed
these cancer slope factors for ingestion, inhalation and external
exposure to radionuclides in units of picocuries (pCi).
- Ingestion and inhalation slope factors are central estimates in a linear model of the age-averaged, lifetime attributable radiation cancer incidence (fatal and nonfatal cancer) per unit of activity inhaled or ingested, expressed as risk/pCi.
- External exposure slope factors are central estimates of lifetime attributable radiation cancer incidence for each year of exposure to external radiation from photon-emitting radionuclides distributed uniformly in a thick layer of soil, and are expressed as risk/year per pCi/gram soil. When combined with site-specific media concentration data and appropriate exposure assumptions, slope factors can be used to estimate lifetime cancer risks to members of the general population due to radionuclide exposures.
EPA Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes
EPA updates its assessment of health risks from indoor radon, which the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has determined to be the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking.
EPA
Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes (PDF) (99pp,
1.28Mb [about pdf format]) [EPA 402-R-03-003]
This risk assessment is based primarily on results from a recent
study of radon health effects (BEIR VI) by the NAS, with some
technical adjustments and extensions.
Comparative Dosimetry of BEIR VI Revisited
In support of EPA’s Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes, the Agency sponsored a study designed to aid in the extrapolation of risk estimates based on data from underground miner cohorts to the case of residential exposures.
Comparative
Dosimetry of BEIR VI Revisited
, Radiation
Protection Dosimetry 108:3-26; 2004) [A.C. James, A. Birchall and G. Akabani]
estimates the radiation doses delivered to
target cells in the lung from radon progeny under indoor
and mine exposure conditions.
Modifying EPA Risk Models Based on BEIR VII
Draft White Paper: Modifying EPA Radiation Risk Models Based on BEIR VII (PDF) (36pp, 381Kb [about pdf format]).
The National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently released a report on the health risks from exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation (NRC 2006). Cosponsored by the EPA and several other federal agencies, Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation BEIR VII Phase 2 (BEIR VII) primarily addresses cancer and genetic risks from low doses of low-LET radiation.
In this paper, we outline proposed changes in EPA’s methodology for estimating radiogenic cancers, based on the contents of BEIR VII and some ancillary information.
Ground-Water Modeling
Documenting
Ground-Water Modeling at Sites Contaminated with Radioactive
Substances (PDF)(168pp, 1.48Mb [about pdf format]) [EPA/540-R-96-003]
This report
demonstrates a thorough approach to documenting model applications in a consistent manner and is
intended to assist technical staff responsible for identifying and implementing flow and transport models
in support of cleanup decisions at radioactive and hazardous waste sites.
A Technical
Guide to Ground-Water Model Selection at Sites Contaminated
with Radioactive Substances (PDF) (146pp, 1.46 Mb [about pdf format])[
EPA/402-R-94-012]
This report specifically addresses the
selection of ground-water flow and contaminant transport models and is intended to be used by
hydrogeologists and geoscientists responsible for identifying and selecting ground-water flow and
contaminant transport models for use at sites containing radioactive materials.