The standard person or reference person is a theoretical individual that has perfectly "normal" characteristics. This model is used for much research into radiation safety. For many years, the standard person was called reference man because the work assumed a healthy, young adult male. In recent years, reference woman and reference child models have been created, along with variations on body size, age, sex, and race.

In the future, the model may be expanded to include selected plants and animals. Eventually, for medical purposes, the concept may be replaced by effective attention to measuring the exposure of individual patients to radiation.

Official definition

According to the International Commission on Radiological Protection's 1974 definition, “Reference man is defined as being between 20-30 years of age, weighing 70 kg, is 170 cm in height, and lives in a climate with an average temperature of from 10o to 20oC. He is a Caucasian and is a Western European or North American in habitat and custom.”

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