Health Question About New Airport Screenings

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Lily

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Just a health question -- not a political question please -- but does anyone really know whether the new whole body scanner machines at the airports are completely proven safe or not, and up to how many times can a person safely be subjected to those scans? I was flying commercially last week and had to go into one and it wasn't just one quick snap but I had to hold a specified pose for ten seconds.
 
When you google the topic, you get stories ranging from virtually no risk to clear and present danger.

I found this entry that seemed to be pretty objective:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/safety/the-truth-about-tsa-airport-scanning

As with medicines, the dose makes the poison. If you go through these only occasionally, the risk seems to be pretty low. However, frequent flyers would seem to have cause for concern from the frequent exposure to radiation.
 
I was watching Dr. Oz the other day and he had on a Dr. from Homeland Security and a Dr of radiology and both agreed it was insignificant. A fraction of the amount of radiation you'd get from a dental xray and less radiation you'd get from being in the airplane for 1 hour.
 
Thank you, Bob.

I got to worrying about it because after my 10 second stand I had to wait for clearance just outside of the machine for another 10 seconds (while they ran another person through it) and that's when I noticed that the only female TSA workers there working with the scanner were clearly beyond child-bearing age and the male TSA workers working right there weren't young either. So that got me to wondering how safe that thing was...

Thanks too, Chris.
 
I wonder what they would tell persons who have already received massaive doses of radiation from Cancer Treatments???
 
I am going to take a pass on the scanner
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don't know what it will do to my ICD
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........... and from how personal the pat down is I may have to take up smoking again
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maybe I will get myself a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer
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Jokes aside, I'm with you Greg. With my ICD, I have to have a pat down anyway (since I understand they usually do a metal detector before putting you in the new scanner). I don't know what the new scanner may do to my ICD. The blurbs on TSA just don't give enough information to make an educated guess.
So I'll take the pat down when I fly.
 
Here is a new article just out on safety of airport scanners...
Thanks for that link too, Bob.

Here's an excerpt:
...A spike in the intensity of the scanning beam, or a slowdown or pause in the timing of that beam's sweep across a traveler's body, could cause significant radiation damage, AOL News was told by a radiologist and two radiological health physicists, who are trained and certified to ensure the safety of those exposed to or working with radioactive material... :eek2:

I also read somewhere, maybe another article, that pregnant women and small children shouldn't go into those scanners. And AL, when I read that I was also wondering about those in your situation, as you referenced, who've already suffered from heavy radiation exposure.

FWIW, I wasn't even sent through the metal detector, just the scanner. As I was holding the stance for 10 seconds, I was wondering how clearly all of my heart surgery scars and drain holes would show. :eek2: And I also wondered if my sternum wires could be seen.
 
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Having had three C-Scans and a number of x-rays in the past few years, I would be very reluctant to go through one of those scanners right now. Right now, I am more than satisfied just to stay put and not fly anywhere.
 

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