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Acute neurobehavioral effects of exposure to static magnetic fields: analyses of exposure-response relations
Frank de Vocht1, Tobias Stevens, Berna van Wendel-de-Joode
1Environmental and Occupational Health Division, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.176, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands. F.devocht@iras.uu.nl
Purpose:
To assess exposure-response relations between exposure to magnetic fields and neurobehavioral effects.
Materials And Methods:
Twenty company volunteers completed a neurobehavioral test battery after they moved their heads with the magnetic field absent, and while they moved their heads in the inhomogenous stray fields of 1.5 and 3.0 T MRI magnets.
Results:
The value of the stray fields at the position of the head of the volunteer was estimated to be 0.6 T and 1.0 T on the 1.5 T and 3.0 T systems, respectively. Exposure-response relations were found for visual (-2.1%/100 mT) and auditory (-1.0%/100 mT) working memory, eye-hand coordination speed (-1.0%/100 mT), and visual tracking tasks (-3.1%/100 mT). Eye-hand precision, scanning speed, and visual contrast sensitivity were apparently not influenced by the magnetic field strength.
Conclusion:
Additional research should focus on the potential side effects of interventional MR procedures because of the exposure to strong magnetic fields of these systems.
