Radiation protectionTSA screens employees for radiation from body scanners
In response to fierce criticism that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was needlessly exposing millions of airport passengers to potentially harmful amounts of radiation, the agency has agreed to measure radiation exposure levels from full-body scanners at 100 airports across the country
In response to fierce criticism that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was needlessly exposing millions of airport passengers to potentially harmful amounts of radiation, the agency has agreed to measure radiation exposure levels from full-body scanners at 100 airports across the country.
The agency will not retest the machines themselves or passengers, but instead it will focus on testing airport security checkpoint screeners to see if they are being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation while working near the machines.
TSA maintains that the scanners are safe for passengers and there is no need to retest them. According to TSA head John Pistole, he has received a draft report from DHS’ Inspector General confirming previous studies that concluded that the scanners are safe for passengers.
“TSA is dedicated to the health and safety of its employees,” added Nico Melendez, a TSA spokesman. “We continuously test our technology to ensure it is safe for both passengers and our officers and post all results to our website.”
In contrast, critics maintain that the government’s tests were flawed and the machines pose a potential increased risk for cancer.
“We still have no idea how much radiation is being imposed on travelers by a properly functioning machine,” said James Babb, the co-founder of We Won’t Fly, a consumer advocacy group. “A malfunctioning machine could be particularly nasty.”
Most recently in its guidelines for airport security, European officials banned the use of full-body scanners that rely on backscatter technology out of health and safety concerns. Instead European airports can only use millimeter-wave full-body scanners that do not emit radiation.
TSA officially allows the use of both types of machines, arguing that backscatter-based scanners only emit an extremely small amount of radiation, the equivalent of flying for a few minutes.
Melendez insists that the backscatter machines are safe as evidenced by their testing and approval by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the U.S. Army Public Health Command.
