Even before body scanners were rolled out at airports nationwide, questions quickly arose from the public regarding privacy and radiation levels. Following the news two weeks ago that some body-scanners mistakenly emitted ten times as much as the normal radiation level, a new study published Monday by the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that body-scanners are “no significant threat” to your health.
How insignificant is the radiation from these machines? According to Time, it would take 50 airport body scans for a person to endure to equal the amount of radiation exposure from a single dental X-ray. It would take 4,000 airport scans to equal the radiation exposure from a mammogram, and 200,000 airport scans to match the radiation delivered by one abdominal CT scan.
As for the cancer risks, the study’s authors calculate that among 100 million passengers who take 750 million flights a year, there would be an additional six cancers over a lifetime attributed to radiation from scanners. Note that’s on top of an estimated 40 million cancers that are expected to occur.
This study has the opportunity to play a significant role changing the way the flying public views body scanners and air travel all together. ”If individuals feel vulnerable and are worried about the radiation emitted by the scans, they might reconsider flying altogether since most of the small, but real, radiation risk they will receive will come from the flight and not from the exceedingly small exposures from the scans,” wrote the authors, Pratik Mehta of UC Berkeley and Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman of UC San Francisco. Ever since the body scanners first started appearing at airports, most research and data available on their safety was available via the TSA and not an accredited third party. This not only backs up the TSA’s claims, but might help the public to become more willing to trust the TSA
During JetCheck’s tour of Jacksonville International Airport, our Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University group of students had the opportunity to speak directly to a TSA supervisor working at the airport. He claimed that the body scanners were safer than household lightbulbs. Yet despite the minimal radiation levels, passengers continue to opt out of the lines. Some credit this to safety, but the other primary concern is privacy, but that’s a topic for another day.
