Radiation

Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation (AGIR)

 

 

Establishment and terms of reference

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has a statutory responsibility for advising UK government departments, and those with responsibility for using ionising and non-ionising radiation, on the risks to human beings imposed by the use of such radiations. This applied in all areas: medical, public health, occupational and environmental. These responsibilities passed to the HPA when the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) merged into the HPA on 1 April 2005 to form its Radiation Protection Division. In 1995 the Director of NRPB set up the Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation (AGIR) that had as its terms of reference:

to review work on the biological and medical effects of ionising radiation relevant to human health in the occupational, public health, medical and environmental fields and advise on research priorities.

In addition, the AGIR was given the task of helping the HPA, where appropriate, deal with any urgent request for advice or work from the Department of Health or other government departments. The AGIR was reconstituted in 1999 as an independent body and reported directly to the board of the NRPB; since April 2005 it reports to the sub-committee of the Board of the HPA that considers radiation, chemical and environmental hazards. The remit of AGIR is restricted to the provision of scientific judgements and does not include the development of specific recommendations relating to radiation protection policy. These are matters for the HPA and its Board.

The AGIR has now published five reports covering a wide range of issues within its terms of reference:

 

For details of these reports see the Bibliography.

Main functions of the AGIR

The detailed work of the AGIR is conducted within subgroups. The subgroups which are currently active are:

Planned developments

The current work programme of the AGIR was endorsed by the HPA Board Sub-committee for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards in April 2008.  In addition to the currently active sub groups AGIR maintains a watching brief on genomic instability and bystander effects.  The work programme will be reviewed by AGIR at its 2008 meeting.

Bibliography

NRPB. Guidelines on patient doses to promote the optimisation of protection for diagniostic medical exposures. Report of an Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation. Doc NRPB, 10 (1), 1-43 (1999).

NRPB. Genetic heterogeneity in the population and its implications for radiation risk. Report of an Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation. Doc NRPB, 10 (3), 1-47 (1999).

NRPB. Risks of second cancer in therapeutically irradiated populations: comparison with cancer risks in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors and in other exposed groups. Report of an Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation. Doc NRPB, 11 (1), 1-105 (2000).

NRPB. Risk of leukaemia and related malignancies following radiation exposure: estimates for the UK population. Report of an Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation. Doc NRPB, 14 (1), 1-119 (2003).

HPA, Review of risks from tritium. Report of the independent Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation. Chilton, Doc. HPA, RCE-4, 1-90 (2007).

The HPA response to Review of risks from tritium is published here

Membership

Chairman

Professor Bryn Bridges, OBE, University of Sussex

Members

Dr Dudley Goodhead, OBE, MRC Harwell
Professor Peter Hoskin, University College London Hospitals
Dr Mark Little, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine
Professor Trevor McMillan, Lancaster University

Chairs of subgroups

Professor Julian Little, University of Ottawa (radon epidemiology)

Profesor Trevor McMillan, (circulatory disease risk)
Dr Margaret Spittle, University College London Hospitals, (high dose radiation effects and tissue injury)
Professor Sir Nicholas Wald, University of London (solid cancer risk)

Secretariat

Dr Simon Bouffler, HPA

Observer

Dr Hilary Walker, Department of Health

Invitation to submit published work for consideration

The AGIR and its subgroups welcome the submission of references to published work relevant to the current work programme. Please send details to

AGIRSecretariat@hpa.org.uk

AGIR Secretariat
HPA Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards
Chilton
Didcot
Oxfordshire OX11 ORQ

It will be for AGIR or subgroup members to decide what weight to give the submitted material and whether or not to cite it.


Last reviewed: 8 July 2008