BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Some 8 million Europeans annually get a magnetic resonance imaging scan, but that could end if officials set limits on occupational radiation exposure.
Implementation of the Physical Agents Directive -- due to be implemented across Europe by April -- was designed to minimize workers’ exposure to electromagnetic fields.
"But these (MRIs) are likely to have to stop, since the directive sets limits to occupational radiation exposure which will mean that anyone working or moving near MRI equipment will breach them, thus making it possible for them to sue their employers," Dag Rune Olsen, who works in experimental radiation therapy at the Norwegian Radiation Hospital, in Oslo, Norway, said at a press conference at the European Cancer Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
The directive, as written currently, poses problems for healthcare staff who care for patients such as children, the elderly, or those who have been anesthetized, who need help and comfort during MRI scans.
A study, published by the Heath and Safety Executive last June, found that anyone standing within about one yard of an MRI scanner in use would breach the exposure limits as currently written in the directive.
