Originally Posted by
BSBD
Why? Because they work so poorly that they regularly generate false positives. You get a patdown if you have a positive.
So, if I'm getting a patdown anyway, why go through the machine first?
Even when it false positives you get less of a pat-down than if you opt out.
Originally Posted by
CanuckFlyer
Without getting into details about my own personal medical history, I'll tell you this. The millimeter wave scanners emit nonionizing radiation that is not believed to produce DNA damage that would lead to cancer. However, they use a form of electromagnetic radiation in a spectral region that can produce thermal effects, that is, heat. It's believed that the exposure we're talking about here doesn't actually heat tissue, but no one has determined the long-term effects of exposure (if any). Since it's easy for me to opt out, I do.
I take lots of other known and unknown risks in my life. This one I skip. Happy to live in a world where I get to make that choice for myself, and you get to make that choice for yourself.
There's no reason to think this poses any hazard. It's certainly far less than you get from a cell phone.