Which formula yields the lifetime cumulative effective dose (CumEfD) limit for a radiation worker?

Which formula yields the lifetime cumulative effective dose (CumEfD) limit for a radiation worker?

• A. Age in years × 0.1 mSv
• B. Age in years × 100 mSv
• C. Age in years × 10 mSv
• D. Age in years × 1 mSv

Answer: (C)

Lifetime exposure risk guides the rule that the total dose a radiation worker should accumulate over their career scales with their age. The standard way to estimate this CumEfD limit is to multiply the worker’s age (in years) by 10 mSv. That 10 mSv per year factor reflects how much cumulative risk is considered acceptable over a person’s remaining lifetime, so the longer you’ve worked and the older you are, the higher the allowable total dose becomes, but it’s still bounded by this linear relationship. For example, a 40-year-old would have a CumEfD limit of 40 × 10 mSv = 400 mSv. The other formulas don’t align with this regulatory approach: using a much smaller factor would underestimate lifetime risk, using a much larger factor would overestimate it, and a factor of 1 mSv or 0.1 mSv would not match the established guideline of 10 mSv per year times age.

Lifetime exposure risk guides the rule that the total dose a radiation worker should accumulate over their career scales with their age. The standard way to estimate this CumEfD limit is to multiply the worker’s age (in years) by 10 mSv. That 10 mSv per year factor reflects how much cumulative risk is considered acceptable over a person’s remaining lifetime, so the longer you’ve worked and the older you are, the higher the allowable total dose becomes, but it’s still bounded by this linear relationship.

For example, a 40-year-old would have a CumEfD limit of 40 × 10 mSv = 400 mSv.

The other formulas don’t align with this regulatory approach: using a much smaller factor would underestimate lifetime risk, using a much larger factor would overestimate it, and a factor of 1 mSv or 0.1 mSv would not match the established guideline of 10 mSv per year times age.