International workshop on emergency radiobioassay: considerations, gaps and recommendations

An international workshop on emergency radiobioassay was held in Ottawa, Canada, 1-3 September 2010. Sixty-five scientists and public health officials from five countries attended the workshop and gave 36 presentations. During the workshop, many considerations were raised, gaps identified, and recommendations given for emergency radiobioassay for both preparedness and response in case of a radiological or nuclear incident. In short, some bioassay methods and protocols need to be developed, validated, and exercised; national and international radiobioassay laboratory networks should be established; and communications and collaborations among public health officials, monitoring experts, and medical staff are encouraged. All these activities are required to make us better prepared for an RN emergency.