Implications of the new ICRP recommendations for aircrew dosimetry

In 2007 the International Commission on Radiological Protection has published its general recommendations replacing the previous 1990 Recommendations. In this paper mainly those parts of the recommendations, which may influence the assessment of doses to aircrews in flight heights, are presented and discussed. Aircrews are generally defined to be occupationally exposed workers and in many countries their exposure is assessed by determination of route doses in flight heights. While the definition of the operational quantities has not been changed, the paper concentrates on the definition of the effective dose, the introduction of anthropomorphic voxel phantoms, the weighting of the different organs and tissues of the human body and the radiation weighting factors. Its implications for aircrew monitoring is discussed.