Committee on Interagency Radiation Research and Policy Coordination:
Seventh Annual Report, June 30, 1991; 16 pp. + appendices

Alvin L. Young, Chairman
Committee on Interagency Radiation Research and Policy Coordination
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Executive Office of the President
Washington, D.C. 20506

The Committee on Interagency Radiation Research and Policy Coordination (CIRRPC) is a subcommittee under the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology, with the overall charge of coordinating radiation matters among agencies, evaluating radiation research, and providing advice on the formulation of radiation policy. In 1990-1991, CIRRPC’s program included efforts to improve interagency coordination on ionizing radiation risk assessments, a review of the reported health risks to humans from exposure to extremely low-frequency electric and magnetic fields, and increased coordination with national and international organizations.

The Subpanel on Public Education initiated information-gathering activities, which showed that in spite of significant Federal agency efforts in public information and education, there is continuing evidence of public scientific illiteracy in general, particularly in the radiation area. The Subpanel is developing a report that will evaluate proposed solutions and the issues involved in their implementation. The Subpanel on the use of BEIR V and UNSCEAR 1988 in Risk Assessment, in their draft report, recommended two nominal risk estimates for lifetime total cancer mortality following whole body exposures to low levels of low-LET ionizing radiation: one for the general population and one for the working-age population. The Occupational Radiation Protection Research Subpanel’s draft report identified four broad areas of radiation research as being especially important to worker protection, including the reduction of uncertainties in health risk coefficients, improvements in external personal dosimetry techniques applicable to workplace exposures and limits, improvements in internal bioassay techniques applicable to workplace exposures and limits, and advanced techniques for health physics instrumentations.

An ad hoc group, the CIRRPC Science Subpanel on the Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, was formed to develop a work statement for an external review of the reported health hazards of exposure to electromagnetic fields, especially reports of carcinogenesis and reproductive and neurophysiological effects. This external review, to be conducted by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, was to focus on power frequencies and VDT frequencies.

The present report’s appendices include a list of CIRRPC meetings, CIRRPC member agencies and representatives, and a list of completed reports.