Annual Limit on Intake (ALI) is the limit of radioactive material taken into the body that would result in the smaller of which dose terms?

• A. committed effective dose equivalent of 5 rems or a committed dose equivalent of 50 rems to any organ
• B. 10 rems or 20 rems to any organ
• C. 100 rems to whole body
• D. None of the above

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that ALI ties the amount of material you can take into the body to the dose limits set for exposure. It is defined as the amount of radioactive material that, if ingested or inhaled, would deliver the smaller of two dose terms: a committed effective dose equivalent to the whole body of 5 rem, or a committed dose equivalent to any single organ of 50 rem. This ensures that an intake at or below the ALI cannot cause either the whole-body dose to exceed 5 rem or an organ dose to exceed 50 rem over the committed period. The two values come from regulatory limits, and the ALI uses the lesser of them to keep both systemic and organ-specific risks under control.