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American College of Radiology (ACR) experts said that the radiation risk from full-body scanners used to improve airport security is low and unlikely to raise an individual's risk of cancer.

Amid concerns regarding terrorists targeting airliners using weapons less detectable by traditional means, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is ramping up deployment of whole body scanners at security checkpoints in U.S. airports. These systems produce anatomically accurate images of the body and can detect objects and substances concealed by clothing.

Two kinds of devices are being deployed:

• Millimeter wave technology uses low-level radio waves. Two radio antennas rotate around the body at high speed and generate a 3-D image on a remote monitor. The image looks like a fuzzy photo negative.

• Backscatter technology uses extremely weak X-rays used to create a two-sided image. The image looks like a chalk drawing.

An airline passenger flying cross-country is exposed to more radiation from the flight than from screening by one of these devices. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) has reported that a traveler would need to experience 100 backscatter scans per year to reach what they classify as a Negligible Individual Dose. The American College of Radiology (ACR) agrees with this conclusion. By these measurements, a traveler would require more than 1,000 such scans in a year to reach the effective dose equal to one standard chest x-ray.

The ACR is not aware of any evidence that either of the scanning technologies that the TSA is considering would present significant biological effects for passengers screened.

Source: ACR

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