Society News Archive

5 March 2009

NCRP Reports on Increased Medical Exposure - HPS Comments

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), a congressional chartered scientific advisory organization, has issued a press release reporting on the findings of its recently completed NCRP Report 160, Ionizing Radiation Exposure to the Population of the United States. The NCRP reports that "in 2006, Americans were exposed to more than seven times as much ionizing radiation from medical procedures as was the case in the early 1980s."

The Health Physics Society has released its own press release addressing the NCRP report and its finding of significantly increased radiation exposure from medical procedures as well as an information sheet with more information on the issue.

The American College of Radiology has also issued a press release citing self-referral of imaging exams by physicans as the major contributor to the increased use of these medical procedures, with the resultant increase in radiation exposure.