Government says airport screening machines safe

Studies by the U.S. government and professional organizations conclude the level of radiation emitted by full-body airport scanners is safe for passengers, according to a Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report, but the findings likely will not end the dispute over backscatter X-ray machines.

The Transportation Security Administration started deploying the devices two years ago. The TSA says there are 247 Advanced Imaging Technology units in operation at 39 commercial airports around the country. They are used to detect a range of metallic and nonmetallic threats, including weapons and explosives.

The backscatter machine "delivers an extremely low dose of ionizing radiation" with levels "below the acceptable limits," the report stated.

The report issued by Carlton Mann, assistant inspector general for inspections, said independent radiation studies concluded radiation levels did not pose a danger.

"Specifically, to reach annual radiation dose limits, a passenger would have to receive more than approximately 17,000 screenings in a 12-month period, which is equivalent to approximately 47 screenings per day, 365 days per year," the inspector general's office concluded in an executive summary.

Nevertheless, federal investigators issued a half dozen recommendations, including making sure backscatter calibrations are "consistently conducted and documented, ensure Transportation Security Officers complete annual radiation safety training... and develop procedures to ensure appropriate notifications of unintended radiation emissions or overdoses."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has reiterated her call for an independent study of the health effects of the airport scanners, saying an alternative screening technology is available.

Older generation full-body scanners deployed at the nation's airports are safe even for the most frequent travelers, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

In a report out today, the OIG says independent tests of the machines show that a passenger would have to be screened 17,000 times a year to reach the scientific community's assessment of the annual radiation dose limit. That would be the equivalent of 47 screenings on each of the 365 days of the year.

The report addresses concerns with backscatter X-ray machines. A total of 247 of them are in use at 39 airports.

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full report (PDF).

Last November, TSA Administrator John Pistole said he would initiate an independent study but then later said the inspector general report would eliminate the need for a new study. At the time, Collins said the report needed to do more than "just a study on whether TSA is doing an adequate job of inspecting, maintaining and operating AIT machines."