ICNIRP APPROACH FOR UV SUNLIGHT EXPOSURE OF OUTDOOR WORKERS

摘要

In 2004, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) published an update of its Guidelines on Limits of Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation of Wavelengths Between 180 nm and 400 nm (Incoherent Optical Radiation). While the actual exposure limits were not changed from previous publications, the new publication provided an in-depth review of the current biological research findings that relate to health risk from UV exposure. The biological bases of the guidelines were strengthened, and the limitations on use of the limits were clarified. A major source document for the ICNIRP guidelines was the World Health Organization (WHO) Environmental Health Criteria 160, Ultraviolet Radiation (UNEP, 1994), which was published in 1994 under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), ICNIRP, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The document contains a review of the biological effects reported from exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and serves as the scientific rationale for the development of the ICNIRP guidelines. The International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) published a monograph on UVR in 1992 (IARC, 1992) and published a monograph on sunscreens more recently (IARC, 2001), and these were also important reference documents. The UK National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) also published a scientific review of the health effects of UVR that was very useful (NRPB, 2002). The action spectra and measurement aspects of UVR protection were published in a monograph on the measurement of optical radiation hazards (CIE/ICNIRP, 1998).