What is the annual occupational dose limit for whole body exposure?

• A. 15 rem
• B. 5 rem
• C. 0.5 rem
• D. 50 rem

Answer: (B)

In occupational radiation protection, there is a yearly cap on how much radiation a worker’s whole body can receive to keep cancer risk in check over a lifetime. The annual limit for whole-body exposure is five rem, which is 0.05 sievert. This dose cap is part of regulatory limits and is complemented by higher allowable limits for specific tissues (for example, the lens of the eye has a limit around 15 rem, and the skin and extremities have limits around 50 rem). The numbers shown in the other options correspond to those tissue-specific limits or to public exposure levels, not the whole-body occupational limit. Keeping doses at or below this five-rem limit helps ensure risks remain acceptably low while allowing necessary work with radiation.