MichaelGrabell

On Sept. 23, 1998, a panel of radiation safety experts gathered at a Hilton hotel in Maryland to evaluate a new device that could detect hidden weapons and contraband. The machine, known as the Secure 1000, beamed X-rays at people to see underneath their clothing.

One after another, the experts convened by the Food and Drug Administration raised questions about the machine because it violated a longstanding principle in radiation safety — that humans shouldn’t be X-rayed unless there is a medical benefit.

“I think this is really a slippery slope,” said Jill Lipoti, who was the director of New Jersey’s radiation protection program. The device was already deployed in prisons; what was next, she and others asked — courthouses, schools, airports? “I am concerned … with expanding this type of product for the traveling public,” said another panelist, Stanley Savic, the vice president for safety at a large electronics company. “I think that would take this thing to an entirely different level of public health risk.”

Read the rest at:

http://www.propublica.org/article/u....-airport-x-ray

RevJim

Interesting article:

Is the TSA Downplaying Backscatter Cancer Risks?

Most people probably assume that the FDA regulates these machines, but according to the article they do not. They only medical uses of radiation imaging, not security uses.

cblaisd

Sending to the TS/S forum while leaving a 30-day re-direct here.

cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News

Ari

We already have one here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...ort-x-ray.html

This stuff doesn't go unnoticed for very long around here!