Legislation ionising radiation

Other relevant legislation is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999. 

The provisions of this section are not detrimental to the application of the legislation in force in matters of protection against ionising radiation. 

The principal legislation in the UK affecting the use of ionising radiations in industry is summarised briefly below. However, readers should consult the appropriate documents for full details. 

Where there is overlap in the duties in these Regulations and those covering lead, ionising radiations, asbestos, hazardous substances (COSHH), noise, and construction head protection then the specific legislative requirements should prevail. 

Bactericidal processes which can be most effectively and practically used to eliminate salmonellae from foods appear to be mainly limited to the application of heat or of irradiation. As discussed by Mossel and Ley , ionising radiation is particularly technically attractive with its highly penetrative biocidal properties and because it can uniquely be used to terminally pasteurise previously frozen or packaged food products. On the theoretical basis of reducing the population of salmonellae by a factor of 10, i.e. 6 log cycles, the most probable effective dose (MPED) has been estimatedto be 0-4 0-2 Mrad (4 0 2 0kGy) and 0-25 Mrad has been shown to inactivate at least 3 log cycles of salmonellae on deep-frozen boiler carcasses under simulated commercial conditions A cautionary note was introduced by Urbain in 1978, however, who considers that salmonellae radicidation may be uneconomic unless universally required by government legislation and Davies Sinskey have shown that radiation-resistant mutants of S. typhimurium potentially exist and can be selectively isolated in extreme, cyclic irradiation circumstances. 

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