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America's x-ray scanners 'radiate' from sea to shining sea

Cynthia Hodges' photo
Chicago Homeland Security Examiner

February 1, 2012  It is increasingly difficult to find shelter from radiation in America the beautiful. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has deployed backscatter x-ray scanners, to take a line from the United States Marine Corps Hymn "in the air, on land, and by sea."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now installing 35 drive-through x-ray gates to scan vehicles at the border for drugs or weapons. The covert DHS van's portable backscatter x-ray scanners can scan while driving alongside of vehicles or while parked as they pass by. The machines have become increasingly popular at sporting events including the NFL SuperBowl and NASCAR events and more recently jails and prisons began employing powerful x-ray technology that can see through the body to detect contraband hidden inside the bodies of prisoners and jail employees - often without their knowledge or consent.

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In 2011, Cook County jail was the first in the country to introduce x-ray scanners in which the radiation dose emitted is anywhere from 10 to 85 times higher than the airport body scanner, depending on if the Virtual Imaging machine is set to low or high. To produce a better image, the unarmed guards favor the higher setting.

Illinois Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart introduced the L-3 body scanners, that can see inside body cavities and underneath skin, at the Cook County jail in February 2011.

According to a Propublica report, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) will introduce a bill in the coming days that would require a new health study of the X-ray body scanners.
 
After repeated requests by Senator Collins, on November 2, TSA Chief John Pistole told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, in which Collins is a ranking member he agreed to the new independent study. However, on November 9, Pistole told the Senate transportation committee that independent studies had already demonstrated the machines emit a "minute" amount of radiation. Pistole said a draft of a report by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security validated earlier conclusions that the machines are not harmful and therefore there is no need for a new study. 
 
The overwhelming majority of Americans have accepted the full body scanners at airports, compromising some of their freedoms for security the U.S. government said is needed to protect us from another 9/11 terrorist attack. The  
DHS and TSA have repeatedly insisted the X-ray technology in the body scanners is perfectly safe.
 
Over time, more scientists and medical experts have expressed concerns about the safety of the body scanners. The attitudes of some Americans have become less accepting of the scanners due to health concerns. In December, twenty-three percent of those polled for a NPR-Thomson Reuters Health survey, when asked about airport security screening, said they would refuse to be examined in the whole-body scanners; and one-third of respondants under the age of 35 said they would decline the scans. 
 
Medical experts have expressed concerns for certain groups, including people over the age of 65 and women genetically at risk for breast cancer, and many experts do not recommend that pregnant women be exposed either.
 
Dr. Edward Dauer, MD Neurologist, Radiologist, and Diagnostic Radiologist at the Florida Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale says because of the scanners "lose dose of radiation which penetrates just below skin level, it could imperil the lens of the eye, the thyroid and a woman’s breasts." 
 
The technology enables TSA screeners to see weapons hidden beneath clothing. However, Dauer says the machines emit ionizing radiation.
 "Ionizing means it knocks the electrons out of your body, which breaks your DNA chain, which can cause death or cancer," he explains. "I think it’s potentially a real danger to the public," Dauer said, noting that even a small dose could be risky for people predisposed to cancer. "This is an additional exposure."
The widespead deployment of x-ray technology by the U.S. government without credible, scientific evidence to back the safety claims first should make decision-makers uneasy. However, faced with scientific studies disputing the claims, and the knowledge of potentially health hazards including cancers, to impede or prolong the results isn't unethical, but rather criminal.
Security screeners expanding radiation use
Security screeners expanding radiation use
Photo credit: 
Google Images

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, Chicago Homeland Security Examiner

Cynthia Hodges holds a M.A.in Political Science from NEIU in Chicago, Illinois and a Post-Grad Professional Certificate in Disaster and Terrorism Management from University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill. In addition to a successful writing career, Cynthia is in the process of writing a book on...

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