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Scanner making companies design the safety tests for airport X-Ray Scanners

guess who was on the committee that developed the guidelines for the X-ray scanners? Representatives from the companies that make the machines and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. In other words, the machines passed a test developed, in part, by the companies that manufacture them and the government agency that wants to use them..….

Body scan or pat down: Decisions abound with airport security – San Jose Mercury News, By Susan Stellin, New York Times 09/12/2010 “…….The more controversial “backscatter” devices project an X-ray beam onto the body, creating an image displayed on a monitor viewed by a TSA employee in another room. The “millimeter wave” machines, considered less risky because they do not use X-rays, bounce electromagnetic waves off the body to produce a similar image.

Unlike metal detectors, these machines can detect objects made with other materials, like plastic and ceramic. But they can’t see anything hidden inside your body, or detect certainAdvertisementexplosives.

……..critics say these samples aren’t detailed enough for travelers to judge how explicit they are, especially if a screener zooms in on a specific area.

Another concern is whether the images can be saved or transmitted. The TSA first said this wasn’t possible, then later admitted the machines can save photos, but that the feature had been disabled. This kind of backtracking has added to the agency’s credibility problem.

How safe they are

The main concerns are how much radiation the scanners give off…..

whether the scanners might malfunction and emit more radiation than they are supposed to, and what the health effects may be for travelers. As there is no precedent for routinely screening so many people with X-rays — other than in prisons — there are a lot of unknowns.

Another issue is that the devices haven’t been thoroughly tested……..

They basically tested only one thing — whether the amount of radiation emitted meets guidelines established by the American National Standards Institute, a membership organization of companies and government agencies.

But guess who was on the committee that developed the guidelines for the X-ray scanners? Representatives from the companies that make the machines and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. In other words, the machines passed a test developed, in part, by the companies that manufacture them and the government agency that wants to use them……

Other medical experts are worried that the government has not adequately evaluated the health risks of such extensive X-ray screening, particularly for children, pregnant women, cancer patients and people sensitive to radiation. One concern is that the data the government is relying on underestimates the amount of radiation absorbed by the skin, potentially raising the risk of skin cancer.

“It’s premature to put a whole population through this thing, not without much more due diligence and much more independent testing,” said John Sedat, a biochemistry professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Sedat, along with several colleagues, sent a letter to the Obama administration calling for independent evaluations of the X-ray scanners.

Body scan or pat down: Decisions abound with airport security – San Jose Mercury News

September 13, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive