Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance Attributed to Electromagnetic Fields in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Examinees

Abstract

Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) is defined as a set of symptoms perceived by individuals when they are exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMF).The EMF from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners are the strongest that the general population may encounter. We conducted a study on the symptoms experienced by MRI examinees to identify associated factors. We recruited participants who were between 20 to 79 years of age at a medical center in Taiwan. The MRI facility was a Philip Achieva 1.5T MRI scanner. All participants were volunteers among examinees who were arranged to receive MRI examinations. We used a standard questionnaire to collect data on demographic characteristics and symptoms before the MRI examination. A questionnaire of the same symptoms was administered again immediately after the MRI examination. We excluded candidates who were arranged to receive a brain MRI or who had history of brain lesions, seizures, psychiatric problems, or claustrophobia. We recruited 200 candidates, and they all completed the questionnaires. We excluded 9 who reported having diplopia, which is not a typical symptom of IEI-EMF and thus was used to identify over-reporting. Of the 191 participants included in the analyses, 37 (19.4%) had symptoms during the MRI examination that were not perceived before the examination (p<0.001 for the Mc’Nemar test). The five most common symptoms which appeared only after the MRI examination were dizziness, ear discomfort, anxiety, palpitation, and poor attention. Of the 10 participants with self-reported IEI-EMF (5.2%), 9 reported symptoms after the MRI examination, with an odds ratio of 22.92 (95% confidence interval: 2.83-185.7, P<0.001).Further studies are needed to clarify whether the symptoms are caused by the EMF produced by the MRI scanner.