Health risk assessment of occupational exposure to a magnetic field from magnetic resonance imaging devices.

Health care staff who operate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices are exposed to a static magnetic field of significant spatial heterogenity always produced by MRI magnets during the whole shift. They can also be exposed to pulses of a time-varying magnetic field (gradient field) present only during patients' examinations. The level of the workers' exposure depends both on the type of the magnet and on the ergonomic design of each MRI device. The paper presents methods used for measuring and assessing workers' exposure. It also discusses the results of inspection measurements carried out next to approximately 20 MRI devices of approximately 0.2-2.0 T. The presented characteristic and overview of the variability of workers' exposure to a variety of MRI devices supports the need for data on monitoring occupational exposure to MRI. International exposure assessment standards and guidelines (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection ICNIRP], Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE], American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists ACGIH], European Commission directive), and those established in Poland are also compared.