An international perspective on control of radiation exposure to non-human species

摘要

The increasing awareness of the vulnerability of the environment to human activities and the need tobe able to demonstrate the level of its protection against hazardous industrial pollutants, has been reflected in newand developing international policies, legal instruments and agreements, beginning with the Declaration of theUnited Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992). Historically, the risk assessment andmanagement of radionuclides entering or present in the environment was generally based on human healthconsiderations alone. This approach has demonstrated efficacy to also protect non-human species in most of thecases related to the applications of atomic energy for peaceful purposes (e.g. the absence of reports of obviousdeleterious effects in other organisms from exposure to environmental radiation due to controlled releases of manmaderadionuclides). However, in certain circumstances (e.g. accidents, radioactive waste in the environment fromthe past, etc.) and for certain individuals of non-human species, this assumption is under examination.The paper presents a summary of the work being carried out at the national and international level by the IAEA’sSecretariat, its Member States and a number of international organizations, and discusses the technical insightswhich should be the basis for the development of new detailed guidance for the protection of the environment in amore comprehensive manner, should the necessity is identified.