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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 applies 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. It is now part of the HPA Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards.

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; it now reports to the Environmental Hazards Technical Committee of the HPA Board. The remit of the 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 nine reports covering a wide range of issues within its terms of reference:

  • genetic heterogeneity of response to radiation
  • guidance on the promotion of further optimisation of medical exposures
  • epidemiology of second cancer
  • reassessment of the risks of radiation-induced leukaemias and lymphomas in the UK population
  • risks from exposure to tritium
  • high-dose radiation effects and tissue injury
  • radon and public health
  • circulatory disease risk
  • solid cancer risk. 

For details of these reports see the Bibliography.

Main functions of the AGIR

  • to receive updates on progress in subgroups
  • to comment on subgroup reports at late stages of drafting
  • to make recommendations for subgroups on specific topics
  • to ensure that reports are subject to national and international peer review, as appropriate.

The AGIR meets annually unless urgent matters require attention. The detailed work of the AGIR is conducted within subgroups. At present the Subgroup on Human Radiosensitivity is active.

Planned developments

The current work programme of the AGIR was endorsed by the Environmental Hazards Technical Committee of the HPA Board in March 2011. In addition to the current work of the Subgroup on Human Radiosensitivity AGIR maintains a watching brief on genomic instability and bystander effects.  The work programme will be reviewed by the AGIR at its 2011 meeting.

Bibliography

AGIR (1999a). 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.

AGIR (1999b). 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.

AGIR (2000). 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.

AGIR (2003). 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.

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

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

AGIR (2009a), High dose radiation effects and tissue injury.  Report of the independent Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation.  Chilton, Doc HPA,  RCE-10, 1-94.

AGIR (2009b), Radon and public health.  Report of the independent Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation.  Chilton, Doc. HPA, RCE-11,1-240.

AGIR (2010). Circulatory disease risk.  Report of the independent Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation.  Chilton, Doc HPA, RCE-16, 1-116.

The HPA response to Circulatory disease risk is published here.

AGIR (2011). Risk of solid cancers following radiation exposure: estimates for the UK population. Report of the independent Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation. Chilton, Doc HPA, RCE-19, 1-258.

 

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, US National Cancer Institute, Bethesda
Professor Trevor McMillan, Lancaster University

Chair of the Subgroup on Human Radiosensitivity

Professor Malcolm Taylor, University of Birmingham

Secretariat

Dr Simon Bouffler, HPA

Observers

Dr Hilary Walker, Department of Health
Dr Stuart Conney, Department of Health

Invitation to submit published work for consideration

The AGIR welcomes 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 the AGIR and subgroup members to decide what weight to give the submitted material and whether or not to cite it.


Last reviewed: 12 December 2011