This petition is directed to the European institutions, national governments and parliaments as well as any other decision-making bodies in that field.
Its goal is to endorse the position of the Alliance for MRI with regard to the EU Physical Agents 2004/40/EC (EMF) Directive in order to safeguard the future use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in clinical and research applications. See www.alliance-for-mri.org

In mid 2010 the European Parliament and Council will be sent a proposal from the European Commission to amend Directive 2004/40/EC on electromagnetic fields. This revision is a result of the concerns raised by the Alliance for MRI and a recognition by the EU institutions that the Directive severely curtails the use of MRI to the detriment of patients in Europe.

MRI is essential in fighting against life-threatening diseases such as brain tumours, cancers and heart conditions. Europe currently holds a leading position in the research and development of this technology and patients are provided with the highest standard of care.

The exposure limits in the Directive have now been proven to be detrimental to patient care, most notably restricting and limiting the use of MRI in interventional applications and in imaging vulnerable patients and children where closer patient contact is required. Furthermore, new research and developments in MRI will be severely restricted as will routine cleaning and maintenance of MRI equipment.

MRI has been used for over 25 years, imaging up to 500 million patients without evidence of harm to workers due to EMF exposure. It is also well known that MRI is free from most health risks associated with ionising radiation such as x-rays, which would form the alternative to MRI in many situations.