RESTON, Va., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Radiation researchers say they have no evidence the full body scans the U.S. government is adopting for airport security could harm travelers.
The Transportation Security Administration is in the process of increasing the use of whole body scanners at security checkpoints in U.S. airports. The scanners produce anatomically accurate images of the body and can detect objects and substances concealed by clothing.
A statement by the American College of Radiology says an airline passenger flying cross-country is exposed to more radiation from the flight than from screening by one of the two devices deployed by TSA.
TSA has deployed two types of scanning systems:
-- Millimeter wave technology uses low-level radio waves in the millimeter wave spectrum. Two rotating antennae cover the passenger from head to toe with low-level radiofrequency energy.
-- Backscatter technology uses extremely weak X-rays delivering less than 10 microRem of radiation per scan -- the radiation equivalent one receives inside an aircraft flying for 2 minutes at 30,000 feet.
The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement has reported a traveler would need to experience 2,500 backscatter scans per year to reach what they classify as a negligible individual dose. The American College of Radiology say it agrees with this conclusion.
The radiology group encourages those interested in learning more regarding radiation associated with imaging and radiation oncology procedures as well as radiation naturally occurring in the Earth's atmosphere to visit www.radiologyinfo.org.
