Whole-body scanners at airports

Airports, world –over will be using full-body scanners to foil possible terror attempts in flights. The United States has tested 40 whole-body scanners as part of a pilot program. These machines - millimeter wavelength imaging and backscatter X-ray scanners, will be used to see under clothes and identify unusual objects. Skin is the likely target organ for the radiation from such body scanners.

It is possible that the radiations may not be penetrating-type and hence risk may be low However, large numbers of people around the world would be exposed to a small risk which may ultimately lead to major public health concern over log time. The exposure from such scanners will be considerable for the air crew and frequent fliers.

It is known that there is no threshold dose that could be considered as risk free to an individual's health, particularly for induction of cancer. As per the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, mass scanning of public using radiation is not justified by any means. If any exposure to radiation can be avoided, it should be avoided.

Members of the public already exposed to low-level radiation from various sources, such as medical X-rays, cosmic radiation during flights at high altitudes, EMF radiation from cellphones, micro-wave radiation from ovens, TV sets, etc, etc. It is time that research should be focused on developing systems which will not expose members of the public to radiations.

Countries should not just rush to install such machines without proper study with respect to its social concerns of intruding into the privacy of passengers; radiation exposure issues; regulatory aspects, ensuring proper maintenance, particularly calibration of the systems so that no member of the public will be exposed to higher levels of radiation at any time.