Whole body scanner is 0.1 μSv according to the article.

But compare it to flying which is minimum of 3 μSv per hour according to Health Physics Society: http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/commercialflights.html
and I’m not that worried about exposure to the scanner, now, even though in reality there is no rigidly defined safe exposure level.

(radiation damage is cumulative and has no safe dosage)

DO NOT BE ALARMED.

(terrorists are out to get you)

CONFORM!

(we have always been at war with eastasia)

Apparently one of these X-Rays could kill him.

He’s very very ill but his concern for us was the cumulative long term effects of continual exposure to this sort of radiation, WiFi, Mobile phone tech etc.

I think it’s next months issue so if you’re interested maybe look it up.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24331/

Back to the topic at hand, I can’t see how exposing people to radiation can be a good thing. For the average person who flies maybe a few times a year, the scanners hopefully wouldn’t effect them (has science looked at how irradiating kids effects their development?), but for the constant travelers like business men/women this could be quite troublesome. Considering we are dealing with radiation, OSHA will probably require the TSA operators to wear led vests while operating the machine (or any one working near it).

Personally, seeing someone in a led vest does not inspire confidence in the machine I’m about to step up to or through.

But no cause for concern: I’m sure the TSA knows what they’re doing…

(Because of privacy and dosage concerns, there should absolutely be an opt-out option, for an alternative, passive inspection – like, bypass the radiation screening and go straight to secondary inspection)

Now we have this new “safe” radiation-based safety gimmick – I wonder how long until that seems reckless?

Still, X-rays are pretty nasty critters and it would be good to have more info about any sources we’re exposed to.

I suppose the TSA would probably get pissed about random normal people wearing dosimeter badges through their fancy x-ray specs.

Or better yet, a Geiger counter. Nothing like the high pitched scream of clicks telling you that your safe from terrorists.

Everyone is terrified of flying now, or disgusted by the senseless security theater, so they’re driving instead. This phenomenon is estimated to have increased US traffic deaths by 5,000 since 9/11.

And now, in order to foil underwear-and-shoe bombers (who have killed zero people to date), our politicians will spend billions of dollars to expose all air travelers to additional radiation. This additional radiation, while unlikely to kill any one particular individual, is nearly certain to cause fatal cancers in a few dozen people (out of the hundreds of millions of people exposed). So, the ‘preventive’ measure will kill more people than the terrorist tactic it is fighting.

And, of course, after our billion-dollar investment in whole-body scanners, and after our wholesale abandonment of human dignity at airport checkpoints, terrorists will STILL be able to smuggle explosives aboard at will: they’ll just hide them in body cavities.

It would all be funny if it weren’t so sad.