# Presentation: 693621

## Radiation Dosimetry Module

- Background or Why We Want One
- Information about a worker’s exposure to radiation during his career would enhance IISP’s examination of worker health trends.
- DOE Sites generate exposure data are for each monitored worker.
- Capturing exposure data in IISP would result in our ability to examine disease incidence (not mortality), as well as annual and career radiation doses- which is a rather unique collection.
- Major sources of dosimetry data are DOE site contractors and HQ’s central repository – Radiation Exposure Monitoring System (REMS).
- These sources could provide radiation exposure information to IISP, in varying degrees of detail.

## Radiation Dosimetry Module

- Dosimetry Data – Sources and Characteristics
- DOE sites have detailed individual exposure data – in various formats/media – for worker’s onsite career. Can be costly to aggregate for an individual over time.
- REMS data are in standard electronic format, reported in accordance to guidance – now in Manual 231.1A, “ES&H Reporting,” March 19, 2004.
- REMS data include demographic and exposure information (about 50 variables) adequate used for IISP, but only for years after 1987. REMS can’t develop career doses for workers monitored before 1987.
- In 2000, sites were asked to provide REMS with workers’ dosimetry data for prior years.  Several sites, including some IISP sites, responded.
- Considerable effort was required to extract data from this historical submission and mesh them with data variables from REMS to develop career doses for the monitored workers covered by IISP.
- This process was applied to data from 3 sites: Hanford, Pantex, and SRS.   We determined a minimum set of variables to serve IISP needs.

## DOE Order 231.1A

- (5) Annual Individual Radiation Exposure Records. Report new and revised radiation exposure records required by 10 CFR 835.702 (a) and (b), “*Individual Monitoring Records*,” to the REMS repository. (See DOEM 231.1-1, Chapter III)
- Report Format. All radiation exposure reports sent to the REMS repository as must be submitted in electronic format and mustbe prepared in accordance with Appendix G of this Manual.
- (6) Excess Injury and Illness. Notify the Assistant Secretary of Environment, Safety and Health and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health of suspected excess illnesses/injuries that may require epidemiologic investigations to determine whether the injuries/illnesses are work related.  (See DOE M 231.1-1, Chapter II.)

##  REPORTING INFORMATION FOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC ANALYSES—EXCESS INJURIES AND ILLNESSES

- a. Heads of Headquarters Elements and Heads of Field Elements will notify the Assistant Secretary of Environment, Safety and Health of suspected illness or injury excesses that require epidemiologic investigation. In this context, suspected excess means the perception that an unusually high number of cases may be occurring among a group of workers. Epidemiologic analyses can help determine whether suspected illness or injury excesses are greater than expected and are associated with working conditions.
- b. Any worker, individual, or group (for example, safety and health staff, supervisors, or employee representatives) can identify suspected illness or injury excesses.
- c. The Assistant Secretary of Environment, Safety and Health, who is responsible for all Departmental health studies of human populations, directs the investigations of suspected excesses through staff of the Office of Health Studies.
- d. Reporting organizations participate in epidemiologic investigations, which will determine the number of affected individuals, their medical diagnoses, and their hazard exposures. The investigation may involve medical tests, work place surveys, and reviews of personnel, medical, and exposure records.

## Career Doses from Historical Data ~ 1999

|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Site | Total Monitored Individuals Reported | Total Monit. Avg Career Length (Yrs) | Number with Meas. Career Dose (External) | Avg. Career Length for Indiv w/ Meas. Dose (Yrs) | Avg. Meas. Career Dose (Extrn. rem) |
| ETTP |          17,936  |            7.4  |            7,565  |             12.0  |        0.646  |
| Fernald |            8,618  |            6.5  |            4,903  |               9.6  |        1.599  |
| Hanford |         182,323  |            5.1  |           80,691  |               9.8  |        1.428  |
| INEEL |         112,898  |            3.2  |           32,847  |               8.0  |        1.469  |
| LLNL |          17,200  |          12.8  |            4,772  |             22.8  |        0.687  |
| NTS |         140,863  |            1.6  |            1,346  |               7.2  |        0.123  |
| Pantex |            5,757  |            9.0  |            2,273  |             13.7  |        1.088  |
| Portsmouth |            9,901  |            9.9  |            6,081  |             13.8  |        0.372  |
| Rocky Flats |          27,736  |            6.1  |           16,053  |               9.1  |        2.107  |
| SRS |          43,998  |          10.1  |           32,043  |             12.6  |        1.459  |
| Totals and Avgs |         567,230  |            4.7  |         188,574  |             10.5  |        1.397  |

## Radiation Dosimetry Module

- Dosimetry Data for IISP
- Dose data should include variables that show external and internal doses incurred each year, dates monitored, and IISP case number.
- The intent is to sum dose increments to develop “career” doses at various points in time for workers in IISP.
- Since health risks are based on cumulative radiation doses, this is a desirable piece of information – plus, career doses are not routinely examined because dose limits focus on annual increments.
- However, HQ effort required to extract dose data from historical data files is substantial and help needed from site is often lacking.
- Recommend that we develop career doses for workers at rest of IISP sites by using REMS data for years back to 1987.
- Would not give full career dose for some workers, but could extrapolate or examine data for the 3 sites (Hanford, Pantex, SRS) with full career doses.

## Radiation Dosimetry Variables

- SSN				ssn
- Gender			sx
- Birthyear			dob
- Start career date		StCd
- End career date		EndCd
- 	For each year monitored, show the following – onsite 								doses, only.
- Facility type code		FacC
- Occupational code		OccC
- Year monitored		Yr
- Yearly deep dose 		YDeep
- Yearly neutron		YNtrn
- Yearly external total 		YExTot      (sum of yearly deep and 						   neutron)
- Yearly total effective dose equivalent  	YTEDE
- Yearly total for tritium				H3CEDE
- Committed Effective Dose equivalent		CEDE
- Career external total 		CExTot     (rolling sum of yearly ext. 					     	 totals, from begin of career)

## RadiationDosimetry Module

- Steps in Process
- EH-53 requests EH-32 to authorize REMS administrator to prepare a CD with desired REMS data – will be grouped by reporting organization with individual names, SSN’s and annual dosimetry information (total of about 50 data fields).
- IISP Data Center will alert Data Coordinators that CD is being sent to them.
- Data Coordinators will all replace names and SSN’s with the IISP identifier regardless of their being on their current roster  ?
- Data Coordinators send scrubbed CD to IIS Data Center.
- Data Center can develop career doses and stratify health and dose data for individuals having health data in IISP.

## Radiation Dosimetry Module

- Possible Stratifications
- Examine dose distributions of career doses for monitored workers in IISP compared to non-monitored workers in IISP over time.
- Examine time trends of annual external doses or of total effective doses (TEDE’s) for these two groups.
- Information about how career doses are accumulated over time is sparse.
- Stratify across gender, age, occupation, for various diagnoses and career lengths.
- Site characteristics or trends in other IISP data can suggest types of analyses that may be of interest.
- Next steps should probably be to select a couple sites and perform a number of these types of analyses to determine if efforts to add radiation dosimetry data to IISP data is a cost effective use of funds.