Cancer Risk Assessment due to Accidental Exposure inside Neutron Laboratories using BEIR VII Model

• Main Authors: Mir Rashid Hosseini aghdam, Hamid Reza Baghani, Seied Rabi Mahdavi, Seyed Mahmood Reza Aghamiri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences 2018-10-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Medical Physics
• Subjects: Neutron; Radiation Exposure; Cancer Risk Assessment; BEIR VII Model
• Online Access: http://ijmp.mums.ac.ir/article_10554_79c1e6ff03b10e24f1cf6e54b6de9284.pdf
• ISSN: 2345-3672; 2345-3672

Introduction: Environmental and occupational human exposure from neutron source can lead to the serious biologic effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the cancer incidence risk for various human organs at different neutron dose levels due to exposure from an Americium-241/Beryllium (Am-241/Be), a standard neutron source for calibration purposes. Material and Methods: We measured ambient dose equivalent H*(10) at different distances from Am-241/Be mixed neutron source by Berthold LB 6411 detector and determined cancer incidence risk for different organs of both male and female subjects at different neutron exposure levels by BEIR VII model. Results: Exposure age had a reverse impact on cancer incidence risk of different organs. We found that as H*(10) increases, cancer incidence risk increments as well. Colon (for men) and bladder (for women) had the highest sensitivity to neutron exposure, while prostate and uterus showed the lowest risk of cancer incidence among male and female subjects, respectively. Conclusion: Older exposed persons are at a lower risk of cancer incidence. The risk of cancer incidence for various organs is considerably associated with gender, such that radiation sensitivity of female organs was higher at all the measured neutron dose levels.