Background of the INIRC

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Appendix D – Background of the INIRC

IRPA began its activities relating to the entire subject of NIR in 1973 with a session

devoted to this topic at its Third International Congress in Washington, DC. The International

Non-Ionizing Radiation Committee (INIRC) of the International Radiation Protection

Association (IRPA) was established in 1977. The primary objectives of INIRC were to present

the general principles of non-ionizing radiation protection, to determine the most appropriate

exposure limits for each type of non-ionising radiation (NIR) and to explore with other

international organizations ways of furthering protection in this field.

Over the last decade the Division of Environmental Health of the World Health

Organization and IRPA/INIRC have cooperated in the preparation of environmental health

criteria documents relating to NIR with the financial support of the United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP). These criteria then become the scientific data base for the

development of exposure limits and codes of practice. From the criteria documents, the INIRC

has then developed guidelines on exposure limits for the different NIR, including laser radiation

(IRPA, 1991). Each of the guidelines for exposure limits have been published in Health

Physics, before being collected in a single volume as quoted above.

Each set of guidelines must, of course, be subjected to periodic revision to be kept in line

with advances in knowledge of the relevant biological effects. The purpose of the guidelines is

to provide guidance to international and national bodies or individual experts who are

responsible for the drafting of regulations, recommendations or technical advice to protect the

workers and the general public from the potentially adverse effects of any non-ionizing

radiation.

The laser criteria document (WHO, 1982), like all criteria documents, was published

under the joint sponsorship of UNEP, WHO and IRPA, includes a description of the physical

characteristics of the radiation concerned, an overview of the sources, applications and

exposure levels, measurement methods and instrumentation, a review of the data on biological

effects gained from animal experimentation and observations in humans, an evaluation of the

health risk of human exposure and a survey of the existing protection standards.

The IRPA/INIRC has collaborated with the International Labour Office by drafting

practical guides concerning the protection of workers against occupational hazards due to non-

ionizing radiations. They provide information on the hazards involved and on practices which

are intended to inform workers of the hazards and the appropriate precautions that need to be

taken to minimize NIR exposure.

Since May 1992 the IRPA/INIRC has become an independent scientific body called the

International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and has

responsibility for NIR protection in the same way as the International Commission on

Radiological Protection (ICRP) has for ionizing radiation.

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