What Aircrews Should Know About Their Occupational Exposure to Ionizing Radiation, 2026 Edition

Details

• Creators:
  Copeland, Kyle ; Eckhardt, Lisa
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Aviation
  • Cancer
  • Cosmic rays
  • Genetics
  • Ionizing radiation
  • Radiation hazards
  • Risk assessment
  • Aircrews
  • Ionizing radiation
  • Galactic Cosmic Radiation
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/AM-26/18
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/1529738
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aerospace Medicine. Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI)
• Abstract:
  Through advisory materials such as this report, AC 120-61 and its successors, resources offered from its Radiobiology Services website, and other related work, the FAA assists and advises those seeking to understand and minimize the hazards associated with ionizing radiation sources encountered in aviation, including recommendation of occupational exposure limits for aircrews and providing computer software for estimating the amounts of solar and galactic cosmic radiation received on flights. This report updates report DOT/FAA/AM-03/16 and is intended as an introductory briefing on the topic of occupational exposure to in-flight ionizing radiation in the form of a series of questions and answers. Air carrier crewmembers and others who regularly fly, while not classified in the U.S. as radiation workers, are considered occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation. The occupational exposures come from both natural and technological sources. The most consistent source of this exposure is naturally occurring galactic cosmic radiation, which increases as altitude increases and with increasing proximity to either geomagnetic pole. On very infrequent occasions, the Sun and other sources also contribute significantly to the ionizing radiation received during air travel. At the low doses and dose rates typically encountered in aviation, the principal health concern is not acute radiation induced injury but rather is the small increases in lifetime risks of radiation-induced diseases such as cancers and genetic defects in future generations.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/93318/dot_93318_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 502.33 KB]
• Collection(s):
  FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:94f73f2ba4a42253db51e5ce1a5109643afb6e7b64245035bbb0fffc39a78a9856d5e314c8bea64b56ef0418a9b87784015b631ab85a59087b82e07d91449134