The International Commission on Radiological Protection 80th Anniversary: Evolution of its Policies through 80 Years

Within 12 months of the discovery of X rays in 1895, papers appeared in literature reporting adverse effects from high exposure. In 1925, the first International Congress of Radiology, held in London, considered the need for a protection committee, which it established at its second Congress in Stockholm in 1928. This paper celebrates the 80th anniversary of ICRP by tracing the history of its policy development and identifying some of the personalities involved from its inception up to the modern era. The paper follows its progress, from early controls on worker doses to avoid deterministic effects, through the identification of stochastic effects, to concerns about public exposure and increasing stochastic risk estimates. Key features of the recommendations made by ICRP from 1928 up to the most recent ones in 2007 are identified. (author)