Radiation Dosimetry Module

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Radiation Dosimetry Module

• Background or Why We Want One
• Information about a workers exposure to
  radiation during his career would enhance IISPs
  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 HQs central repository
  Radiation Exposure Monitoring System (REMS).
• These sources could provide radiation exposure
  information to IISP, in varying degrees of
  detail.

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Radiation Dosimetry Module

• Dosimetry Data Sources and Characteristics
• DOE sites have detailed individual exposure data
  in various formats/media for workers 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, ESH 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
  cant 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.

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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.)

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REPORTING INFORMATION FOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC
ANALYSESEXCESS 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.

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Career Doses from Historical Data 1999
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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.

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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)

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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, SSNs 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
  SSNs 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.

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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 (TEDEs) 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.

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