Radiation: products and services
PHE's Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards provides radiological protection advice, services and training.
Public Health England (PHE) is the UK’s primary authority on health protection and carries out research to advance knowledge about protection from the risks of radiation.
PHE provides a range of radiation protection services, including:
- technical and monitoring
- training
- compliance
PHE provides expert advice to:
- government
- regulators
- the general public
- others
Personal dosimetry service (PDS)
PHE provides personal radiation dose monitoring to many sectors, including:
- nuclear
- medical
- veterinary
- dental
- general industry
- research
Find out more about the personal dosimetry service.
Dental x-ray protection services
PHE provides the following dental x-ray protection services:
- radiation protection advice
- medical physics expertise
- quality assurance
- continuing professional development (CPD) qualifying training
- x-ray equipment assessments.
Find out more about dental x-ray protection services.
Radiation protection in veterinary services
PHE provides radiation protection supervisor courses for the veterinary profession. The course covers the core of competence specified by the Health and Safety Executive.
Dates and venues for training are available from the Radiation Protection Services website.
Non-ionising radiation services
PHE is the primary authority for radiation protection advice and offers assessments, advice and training courses on the following:
Find out more about the non-ionising radiation service or contact the laser team at laser@phe.gov.uk.
Radon services
Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas which decays into other radioactive species, all of which cause human exposure to radiation. The main danger from high radon exposure is the increased risk of lung cancer. PHE’s services include information for employers, local authorities and housing associations, a radon address search and radon measurement packs.
More information about radon services.
Instrument testing service
PHE offers an instrument testing service for periodic testing and test before first use of a variety of monitors including dose-rate monitors, contamination monitors and active personal dosemeters.
The PHE CRCE site holds UKAS accreditation for gamma dose-rate measurements and also operates a radon exposure facility for calibration and research purposes.
Find out more about the instrument testing service.
Chromosome dosimetry
PHE provides a specialist biological dosimetry service to evaluate people known or suspected of being overexposed to ionising radiation. It is based on analysing chromosome damage in blood cells.
Find out more about chromosomal and other blood tests for exposure to chemicals and radiation.
Analytical services
PHE provides radiochemistry and chemistry analytical services on a wide range of sample matrices and analytes. Laboratories are based at the PHE sites at Chilton and Glasgow. The laboratories are fully accredited to ISO 17025 by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) for both sample collection and analysis.
Find out more about PHE analytical services, including case studies of successful projects and online enquiry system.
Radiotherapy
PHE provides independent advice on radiological practice and radiation safety, including radiotherapy. PHE supports the radiotherapy community and works with healthcare professionals in clinical radiotherapy settings.
Find out more about PHE’s work in radiotherapy.
For older publications, see The National Archives.
Software
PHE’s radiation protection services has developed the following software applications:
PC-CREAM
PC-CREAM radiological impact assessment software is a PC package that assesses the consequence of radioactive discharges due to normal operations.
Find out more about PC-CREAM.
Integrated Modules for Bioassay Analysis (IMBA)
IMBA is a suite of software modules for internal dosimetry. It implements all of the biokinetic and dosimetric models currently recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).
Find out more about IMBA.
Dose calculations for medical research applications
PHE provides a dose calculation service to pharmaceutical companies and associated laboratories wishing to administer radiolabelled compounds to volunteers as part of their drug research programmes.
The dose calculations are needed for the preparation of submissions to the Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee (ARSAC) by the pharmaceutical companies for prior authorisation and certification to expose volunteers for medical research purposes, in accordance with the Medicines (Administration of Radioactive Substances) Regulations 1978.
Find out more about dose calculation services.