New scientific evidence demonstrating that the limits set in the EU Directive 2004/40/EC (EMF) are exceeded by workers close to MRI scanners has been published.

The initial results of research commissioned by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) undertaken by Professor Crozier demonstrate that anyone standing within about 1m of an MRI scanner while it is acquiring images will exceed the exposure limits set out in the EU Physical Agents Directive 2004/40/EC (EMF).

The Alliance for MRI calls on the European Commission to inform the European Parliament and EU member states of the new scientific evidence and, as a matter of urgency, to initiate an inter-service consultation process to propose a derogation for MRI from the scope of the EMF Directive.

An Alliance spokesperson says: "It is essential that the Commission act on the new scientific evidence now available in order to ensure that the Directive is amended prior to the implementation deadline (30 April 2008)."

It is not satisfactory for the European Commission to indicate that it will not institute infringement proceedings as from 1 May 2008 (as outlined by Mr Van der Pas - Director General of DG Employment and Social Affairs on 7 May hearing at the European Parliament) as hospitals and research institutes will be liable after this period if the Directive is not amended.

"This will prevent healthcare staff from assisting or caring for patients during imaging, and will mean that some patients who cannot be imaged without this care - perhaps because they are young, elderly, frail or confused - will either be denied imaging or have to undergo an alternative procedure using x-rays."

The Alliance claims the ban will effect interventional MRI and some forms of functional imaging in their entirety, and endanger the pre-eminent position of Europe in MRI research.

The research also shows that members of staff walking as slow as 1 m/s within about 0.5-1 m of an MRI scanner will exceed the limits, even when the scanner is not in use. This problem will impact on installation, servicing, cleaning and calibration of equipment, as well as on patient care. This could make all uses of MRI essentially impractical.

Related Reading

The study has been published as two papers in the Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM):

http://www.medicexchange.com/apps/medicexchange/articlefiles/11125-1646_1.pdf

http://www.medicexchange.com/apps/medicexchange/articlefiles/11125-1646_2.pdf

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