Full-body scanners at airports pose skin cancer risk

To scan or not to scan? Tough question.

You’ve probably heard the controversy over the new full-body scanners now in use at many U.S. airports. When you fly out of those airports you’ll be given a choice: full-body scan or an “enhanced” pat down.

Apparently the pat down gets pretty up-close and personal. It’s generally described as “demeaning.”

But it might be the best choice.

In a letter last April, scientists at the University of California said the dose of radiation to the skin may be dangerously high. Not good news if you have skin cancer or are at risk of skin cancer.

Also generally at risk: cancer patients, anyone over the age of 65, pregnant women and their unborn babies, and HIV-positive patients.

Here’s what prompts risk for these travelers: According to a study from Los Alamos National Laboratory, terahertz wave radiation (THz) emitted by the scanners creates effects that may interfere with DNA replication. And a study in the journal Radiation Research concluded that THz radiation causes DNA instability.

This risk may be minimal, says a doctor in the department of biophysical chemistry at Johns Hopkins Medical School. “But statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from these X-rays.”

Don’t be a statistic. If you can stomach it, go with the pat down. Or go Greyhound.

Source:
“Airport scanners may pose risk to skin”