Occupational exposure to ionizing radiation for medical workers Background: Health workers in some diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation. Chronic ...exposure to low doses of radiation can have many negative consequences on the human health, such as cataracts and, among the most serious consequences, the increased risk of morbidity for certain types of cancer. Guidelines for the safety of working with radiation sources and the legislation aim to reduce workers' exposure to ionizing radiation to the lowest as reasonably achievable. This article focuses on the presentation and discussion of the effective annual doses for the period from 2006 to 2010 received by Slovenian health care workers exposed to the artificial sources of ionizing radiation. Methods: We obtained personal dosimetry data from 2006 to 2010 collected by the Slovenian Radiation Protection Administration (SRPA). Results: The effective annual dose limit in Slovenia is 20 mSv. The annual dose received by health workers did not exceed 9.99 mSv in any group and in most groups, more than 95 % of doses were in the dose area below 1 mSv (in nuclear medicine and brachytherapy, around 80 %). The average doses for the period from 2006 to 2010 are 0.47 mSv for nuclear medicine, 0.19 mSv for interventional radiology, 0.09 mSv for other radiology, 0.10 mSv for brachytherapy, 0.07 mSv for teleradiotherapy, 0.05 mSv for dental medicine and 0.02 mSv for other employees in medicine. Conclusions: In the last five years, health workers in Slovenia received some ten times less effective annual doses than the effective annual dose limit prescribed by law, which is comparable to the developed world. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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