§ 82.18 How will NIOSH calculate internal dose to the primary cancer site(s)?

(a) The calculation of dose from ingested, inhaled or absorbed radioactivity involves the determination of the types and quantities of radionuclides that entered the body. NIOSH will use the results of all available bioassay monitoring information as appropriate, based on assessment of the technical characteristics of the monitoring program. If bioassay monitoring data are unavailable or inadequate, the dose reconstruction will rely on the results of air sampling measurements, radiation sources, work processes and practices, and incidents involving radiation contamination, as necessary. (b) NIOSH will calculate the dose to the organ or tissue of concern using the appropriate current metabolic models published by ICRP. Using data available to NIOSH, the models will be based on exposure conditions representative of the work environment. When NIOSH cannot establish exposure conditions with sufficient specificity, the dose calculation will assume exposure conditions that maximize the dose to the organ under consideration. When the cancer covered by a claim is in a tissue not covered by existing ICRP models, NIOSH will use the ICRP model that best approximates the model needed, while giving the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. For internal exposures, NIOSH will select the highest dose estimate from among the modeled organs or tissues that do not concentrate the radionuclide. (c) Internal doses will be calculated for each year of exposure from the date of initial exposure to the date of cancer diagnosis.