The European Directive will halt use of MRI scans and cancer diagnosis and treatment will suffer because the Electromagnetic Fields Directive 2004/40/EC in all EU Member States. This was reported by a scientist who spoke at a press conference at the recent European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14).

Drafted by DG Employment, the Directive aims to minimize workers' exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). There are currently 8 million MRI patient examinations per year performed in Europe, according to Professor Dag Rune Olsen, who works in experimental radiation therapy at the Norwegian Radiation Hospital, Oslo, Norway, and is chairman of the physics committee of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO). He says that these are likely to have to stop, since the Directive sets limits to occupational radiation exposure meaning that anyone working or moving near MRI equipment will breach them, thus making it possible for them to sue their employers. Even those maintaining or servicing the equipment may be affected according to Dr. Olsen.

Operator exposure was also studied by a British group who published in the Health and Safety Executive in June 2007, and was carried out by Professor Stuart Crozier from Brisbane University, Australia. Dr. Crozier found that anyone standing within about one meter of an MRI scanner in use would breach the exposure limits laid down in the directive. The Commission has accepted this, and said that it will consider the HSE report along with the study it has commissioned. It is due to be published in October 2007 after figuring out how to propose amendments or to extend the implementation period.

Professor Olsen feels that it may be too late. He says that Svakii has already implemented the directive on the grounds that it was based on the assumption that the limits set would have no effects -- meaning that it is now illegal to carry out MRI scanning in the country.

In its present form, the directive poses particular problems to those healthcare staff who care for patients, especially children and the elderly, or those who have been anesthetized -- who need help and a certain amount of comfort during scans. It will also stop the use of MRI for interventional and surgical procedures and will curtail cutting edge research.

A recent Eurobarometer (done in Europe) showed that most EU citizens felt that they were inadequately protected by authorities against the potential health risk posed by electromagnetic fields. More than two-thirds of people interviewed said that they were not satisfied with the information they received on EMF, and one-third said that they had not been informed at all.

Professor Olsen explained that "in the medical field, the use of MRI may lead to more exposure to radiation rather than less." He went on to say that MRI has to a certain extent contributed to a limit in the increase of the use of ionizing radiation in medical imaging, for example, in CT scans. This is important with respect to radiation-related cancer mortality risks and is in line with requirements laid down in EURATOM Directive 97/43 regarding optimization and justification of medical exposure to ionizing radiation. "If the public were informed of this I am sure that they would be as keen as I am to see that MRI is allowed to continue. The added value that MRI represents to medical diagnostics has been tremendous," stated Dr. Olsen.

Dr. Olsen said that policy-making should be based on sound science, and to his knowledge there is no scientific evidence of long-term adverse health effects of exposure to static or fluctuating magnetic fields that are commonly found during MR scanning. "Hasty decisions without scientific support will in this case have a severe impact on medical diagnostics and must thus be avoided. I hope that the Commission will allow a delay in implementation to enable it to examine this issue again and that the Directive could be amended to allow an EU-wide derogation for MRI," he concluded.