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Airport scanning and radiation

Radiation and whole-body scanners Budget Travel  by: Sean O’Neill, Jan 12,” …………….. a short Q&A on the topic of cancer risk and whole-body scanning machines.
The Transportation Security Administration TSA has deployed two types of scanners. One type uses X-rays and emits some ionizing radiation. These machines are called “backscatter” scanners. The other type of machine uses radio waves, does not emit ionizing radiation, and produces fuzzier images.

How do the TSA scanners work?
A “backscatter” machine shoots a bean of X-rays at a traveler. Then the machine measures what bounces back from your body. It uses that information to create a two-dimensional image of what’s underneath your clothes.

Is radiation involved?
As summarized by The New York Times, “The X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation, that is, radiation powerful enough to strip molecules in the body of their electrons, creating charged particles that cause cell damage and are thought to be the mechanism through which radiation causes cancer.”

Radiation and whole-body scanners – This Just In – Budget Travel

January 13, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive