Exposure classification of MRI workers in epidemiological studies |
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Authors: | Kjell Hansson Mild Jeff Hand Maila Hietanen Penny Gowland Jolanta Karpowicz Stephen Keevil Isabelle Lagroye Eric van Rongen Maria Rosaria Scarfi Jonna Wilén |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Radiation Sciences, Ume? University, Ume?, Sweden;2. Imaging Sciences Department, Imperial College London, London, UK;3. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland;4. Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK;5. Central Institute for Labour Protection—National Research Institute, Laboratory of Electromagnetic Hazards (CIOP‐PIB), Warsaw, Poland;6. Medical Physics Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK;7. EPHE, Bioelectromagnetics Laboratory, Pessac, France;8. Health Council of the Netherlands, Den Haag, The Netherlands;9. National Research Council–Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment (CNR–IREA), Naples, Italy |
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Abstract: | We estimate that there are about 100,000 workers from different disciplines, such as radiographers, nurses, anesthetists, technicians, engineers, etc., who can be exposed to substantial electromagnetic fields (compared to normal background levels) around magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. There is a need for well‐designed epidemiological studies of MRI workers but since the exposure from MRI equipment is a very complex mixture of static magnetic fields, switched gradient magnetic fields, and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF), it is necessary to discuss how to assess the exposure in epidemiological studies. As an alternative to the use of job title as a proxy of exposure, we propose an exposure categorization for the different professions working with MRI equipment. Specifically, we propose defining exposure in three categories, depending on whether people are exposed to only the static field, to the static plus switched gradient fields or to the static plus switched gradient plus RF fields, as a basis for exposure assessment in epidemiological studies. Bioelectromagnetics 34:81–84, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
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Keywords: | occupational exposure magnetic field radiographers nurses anesthetists technicians engineers |
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