Traveling by Air? Go for the Grope!
Taken from the January/February 2011 issue of the Women's Health Activist Newsletter.
Currently, about half of the 68 airports that use people scanners use X-ray scanners;1 the other half use millimeter wave scanners, which have no health risks. Although the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lists airports that use people scanners, the TSA website does not differentiate between the two types.
We are all exposed to natural background radiation exposure from rocks, radon, cosmic rays, food, and water. Airplane travel itself exposes us to more cosmic radiation simply because we’re 30,000 or so feet closer to the sun, in a thinner atmosphere. The TSA states that the X-ray people scanners expose individuals to as much radiation they get in two minutes of flying at altitude.2 But, radiation expert David Brenner, from Columbia University, notes that the quality of the scanner images seen on the Internet appear to indicate that radiation doses are larger than the TSA estimates (although he emphasizes the doses are still very small).1,3 Certainly, radiation exposure from airport scanners is miniscule compared to computed tomography (CT) scans or other medical imaging studies that use X-rays. For more on how CT scans increase cancer risk, see “Getting Burned: Radiation Exposure from CT scans” WHA, May 2006. 4
Even small doses of radiation may be problematic. A distinguished group of scientists from the University of California has written to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), noting that is it misleading to compare radiation doses from scanners to background radiation doses or medical imaging.5 They note that natural background radiation hits the whole body, while scanners deliver a higher dose of low-beam radiation to the skin and superficial tissues than to other organs. The scientists argue that the long-term risks of this kind of exposure is unknown, and that the dose to the skin may be high enough to cause concern about increased risks melanoma and breast cancer. While the FDA responded,6 it has not adequately addressed some of the scientists’ concerns.7
Again, the amount of radiation for each backscatter airport security scan is small, and this level of radiation exposure is not a concern for someone who flies just once or twice a year. But flight crews and frequent flyers may add significantly to their lifetime radiation load. Flight crews are exposed to more cosmic radiation than the general population, and they already have a higher risk of cancer. Epidemiologic evidence shows that female flight attendants have higher rates of breast cancer than the general public, and that melanoma risks are increased in both male and female flight crew members.8 For flight crews, much of this excess risk is unavoidable. It is telling that the world's largest pilots association, the Allied Pilots’ Association, is boycotting X-ray scanners due to concerns about increased cancer risks.9
Radiation risk is cumulative; the more you’re exposed to radiation, the higher your lifetime cancer risk. That’s why people who work around radiation are required to wear film badges that measure cumulative radiation exposure. There’s a long lag time between exposure and effect, and radiation-induced cancers may take 20 years to develop. Some populations may be at higher risk of radiation-induced cancers, including children, people with inherited susceptibility to cancer, and those taking immunosuppressive drugs. For now, we don’t really know what the long- term effects of the people scanners might be.
Here’s another concern: X-ray machines need to be checked and calibrated regularly to make sure that they are not emitting more radiation than they are supposed to. The airport scanners are not subject to the same schedule of maintenance because they are not medical imaging machines, and the FDA does not monitor them. The TSA is supposed to monitor them, but we’re not impressed either with TSA’s responsiveness to health concerns or its transparency; for example, the TSA has not made the machines available to scientists who want to study radiation exposure.3
Our advice is: if you’re faced with a scanner, determine if it’s a millimeter wave or backscatter X-ray. You can tell what kind of scanner you’re facing by asking the TSA people or looking on the machine itself. The only X-ray manufacturer scanner, to our knowledge, is Rapiscan. Waltz on through the millimeter wave machines, but if it’s an X-ray scanner, ask for a pat down instead. Being groped by a TSA official may have an “ick” factor, but at least it won't increase your cancer risk.
Charlea T. Massion, MD, is a practicing physician in Santa Cruz County specializing in hospice and palliative care. Charlea brought her passion for improving women’s health along with 40+ years of health care experience to the NWHN as a member of the board for 8 years. She also co-founded the American College of Women’s Health Physicians.
Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD, is a former NWHN Board Chair whose research presents a critical analysis of the marketing of prescription drugs. Adriane educates prescribers on pharmaceutical marketing practices as Director of the PharmedOUT program, and created the Health in the Public Interest program at Georgetown University School of Medicine where she trains a new generation of consumer advocates.
Read more from Charlea T. Massion and Adriane Fugh-Berman.
The continued availability of external resources is outside of the NWHN’s control. If the link you are looking for is broken, contact us at nwhn@nwhn.org to request more current citation information.
References
1. Kotz D, “Radiation Experts Concerned With TSA Airport Security Scanners,” US News & World Report, November 18, 2010. Available at: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/cancer/articles/2010/11/18/radiation-experts-concerned-with-tsa-airport-security-scanners.html?PageNr=1
2. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Frequently Asked Questions: Advanced Imaging Technology, Available at
http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/ait/faqs.shtm
3. Flatow I, “Are Airport Scanners Safe?” Talk of the Nation, November 19, 2010, Available online at http://www.npr.org/2010/11/19/131447056/are-airport-scanners-safe
4. Fugh-Berman A, “Getting Burned: Radiation Exposure from CT Scans,” Women’s Health Activist, May/June 2006. Available online at: https://nwhn.org/getting-burned-radiation-exposure-ct-scans
5. Sedat J, Shuman M, Agard D, Stroud R, “Letter to John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology,” April 6, 2010. Available at http://www.npr.org/assets/news/2010/05/17/concern.pdf
6. Food and Drug Administration, “FDA Response to University of California - San Francisco Regarding Their Letter of Concern,” October 12, 2010. Available at http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/SecuritySystems/ucm231857.htm
7. Knox R, “Protests Mount over Safety and Privacy of Airport Scanners,” National Public Radio Health Blog, November 12, 2010. Available online at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/11/12/131275949/protests-mount-over-safety-and-privacy-of-airport-scanners
8. Hammer GP, Blettner M, Zeeb H, “Epidemiological studies of cancer in aircrew,”
Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2009; 136(4):232-9; Buja A, Mastrangelo G, Perissinotto E, et al., “Cancer incidence among female flight attendants: a meta-analysis of published data”, J Womens Health 2006; 15(1):98-105.
9. Petrou A, “Allied Pilots Association to boycott full body scanners,” Tech Eyenet, November 8, 2010. Available at
http://www.techeye.net/security/allied-pilots-association-to-boycott-full-body-scanners