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Mammography Program

The Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992 (MQSA), was signed into law on Oct. 27, 1992. The intent of the MQSA is to ensure the public receive high quality mammography for early breast cancer detection by requiring the establishment of a federal certification and inspection program for mammography facilities. The Act authorizes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to obtain state and local assistance in enforcing the MQSA requirements, including annual inspections of all certified mammography facilities. On Oct. 28, 1997, the FDA published final MQSA regulations in the Federal Register. These regulations took effect on April 28, 1999.

DEP, under contract with the federal government's FDA, conducts inspections of each of the state's more than 300 facilities which perform mammographic X-ray procedures. These inspections, performed by DEP's Bureau of Radiation Protection personnel, are conducted on a schedule prescribed by the FDA. This schedule calls for a facility to be inspected once every 12 months, with a two-month grace period either way.

To perform mammography a facility must be FDA certified. There are over 9,000 FDA certified facilities nationwide.

A search for MQSA certified mammography facilities can be done by zip code, city, state or facility name.