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The ICRP have opted to use a similar approach to Reference Man for the environment, proposing a set of 12 Reference Animals and Plants (RAPs). The list of RAPs is significantly smaller than the corresponding reference organism suites used in the ERICA and the EA R&128 approaches (RAP list). However, the ICRP approach places more emphasis on life stages than the other methodologies considered, with the draft report presenting DCC values for a number of life-stages for some of the RAPs. The RAPs are suggested as 'points of reference' for drawing comparisons with sets of information on other organisms. It is acknowledged that the RAPs may not be the direct objects of protection per se and that it may be necessary to establish a 'secondary set of Reference Organisms for a specific purpose or geographical area'. Since there are no internationally accepted 'rules' on classification above Family (or 'Super Family') level, the ICRP have suggested that this constitutes the most suitable level of generalisation. A RAP is defined as: 'a hypothetical entity, with the assumed basic biological characteristics of a particular type of animal or plant, as described to the generality of the taxonomic level of Family, with defined anatomical, physiological, and life-history properties, that can be used for the purposes of relating exposure to dose, and dose to effects, for that type of living organism.' The RAPs are defined in more specific terms than are reference organism in approaches such as ERICA and EA R&D128.

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