[ RadSafe ] OSHA Extends Comment Period On Revisions to Ionizing Radiation Rule

[John Jacobus]

A friend pointed this out.
_____________________________________________
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 10:12 AM
Subject: OSHA Extends Comment Period On Revisions to
Ionizing Radiation Rule 

Occupational Hazards  -  08/16/2005

OSHA Extends Comment Period On Revisions to Ionizing
Radiation Rule 

The National Academy of Science (NAS) has released a
report on health risks for exposure to low levels of
ionizing radiation, prompting OSHA to grant
stakeholders more time to comment on whether the
agency should revise its decades-old regulation on
this hazard.

Because the NAS study, "Health Risks from Exposure to
Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation: BEIR VII Phase 2
(2005)," was not issued until June 29, members of the
public now have until Nov. 28 to submit comments to
help the agency determine what action, if any, should
be taken to update the standard, 29 CFR 1910.1096.

In its most recent regulatory agenda, OSHA has
explained its decision to consider revising the
31-year old rule by observing that, "radiation is now
used for a broader variety of purposes, including
health care, food safety, mail processing and baggage
screening." Exposure to high doses of radiation can
cause cancer, heart disease, stroke and mental
retardation in the children of pregnant women.

The new NAS study concludes, "there is a linear,
no-threshold dose-response relationship between
exposure to ionizing radiation and the development of
cancer in humans." In other words, low doses of
exposure to radiation are neither more, nor less,
harmful to humans than estimated by a linear model
based on the risks posed by higher exposures. 

As of Aug. 15, there were 95 documents on a docket
OSHA has established for public comments on whether to
revise the radiation rule.

Many of the comments from industry groups point out
that other federal and state agencies, particularly
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, already regulate
ionizing radiation. For example, the Council on
Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals Inc. (CORAR),
opposes OSHA rulemaking on ionizing radiation because
it "would duplicate or potentially conflict with NRC."
CORAR members include manufacturers and shippers of
diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.

The group states it has submitted data concerning
trends toward a marked reduction in collective and
average occupational exposures.

New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP), however, writes it is "dismayed" that OSHA
mentions throughout its summary on ionizing radiation
that not changing its "outdated" regulations is a
possibility. "The current OSHA rules on radiation
exposure as applied, could allow 50 times more
radiation exposure to a worker than is currently
allowed under NRC regulations and most state
regulations."

The DEP comment argues that although OSHA rules are
applicable only to radiation workers, they are often
applied to workers exposed to radiation but untrained
in radiation safety, such as water treatment workers,
construction workers and paper and pulp mill workers.

- James L Nash

http://www.occupationalhazards.com/articles/13874


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"Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea and never shrinks back to its original proportion." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com


		
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