Travelling By Means Of Commercial Air Carriers May Possibly Mean Close Up Encounters With Airport Full Body Scanners


The thwarted terrorist assault on a passenger jet heading to Detroit, where the would be terrorist had explosives in his under-wear, has got governments around the world arranging to install body scanners at airports in order to, hopefully, prevent any other suicidal terrorist from smuggling explosives onto commercial airlines.

Airport Security scanners use one ot two systems - millimeter wave sensors or backscatter X-rays. As the majority of full body scanners installed are the backscatter type this article will be about these only. The question that both passengers and governments need to be wanting to know but are not doing so is. Is the full body scanner safe to use? Will ordinary airline passengers who are scanned many times a year suffer any undesirable effects to their health?

X-rays:

X-rays, also called Rontgen Rays, are a type of ionizing radiation. If you have at any time had an X-ray you will be aware that while the Radiologists takes a X-ray she stands behind a radiation proof screen in order to safeguard himself against the ionizing radiation.

If you have had a X-ray when at the dental practitioners you will see that the Dentist will also stand at the rear of a screen or get out of the room while the X-ray is taken. Radiologists and Dentists know that subjection to X-rays can cause malignant tumors.

As per Cancer Research UK. The proportion of cancers due to X-rays is 0.6 percent.

Mammograms:

Females at high-risk -- those with a genetic or inherited predisposition to breast cancer -- who may have received 5 or more mammograms in their twenties were found to be 2.5 times more prone to develop breast cancer than high-risk women that had not received any kind of mammograms.

Elderly females at high-risk increased their own chances of developing breast malignant tumors by 1.5 times by having mammograms. Simply, in high-risk females, mammograms increase the chances of having breast cancer. The greater the number of mammograms that you have the greater the risk of having cancer.

Upon examining the clinical data the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has published completely new recommendations regarding mammograms.

Particularly, that women under the age of 50 do not need mammograms unless that there exists a good reason for doing so. That women above 50 really should only get them every other year. The radiation from mammograms may be low-dose radiation but it is nevertheless X-rays. The same type of ionizing radiation utilized in backscatter X-ray full body scanning equipment.

If getting a mammogram raises the chance of a woman developing breast cancer then how about the amount of ionizing radiation a female might be receiving if she were being scanned using a Backscatter X-ray full body scanning device every time she went on a trip on a commercial airline.

CT Scans:

One can find more than enough proof to demonstrate that exposure to X-rays is harmful for your health and wellbeing. It would be advisable to lessen exposure to ionizing radiation as much as possible. A way to achieve this is to not have any kind of unneeded medical X-rays. As an example some people have yearly full body CT scans as part of a yearly health and wellbeing examination.

As per a research report in the New England Journal of Medicine one third of every CT scans are medically not necessary. When you consider that throughout the year 2006, in the United States, there was greater than 62 million CT scans, which means there were over twenty million unnecessary CT scans performed that year.

All of the airports will eventually have body scanners installed for the purpose of security purposes. You may currently opt out of the airport body scanner and get a pat-down, however this can change some time in the future since airports would prefer everybody to go through the full body scanner.

In the event you travel regularly then, based on the scientific evidence, you are going to be exposing yourself to X-rays which could cause you to sustain severe medical problems.

Air Charter Is The Perfect Option Which You Possess For Vacationing
In times of hardship you might be wondering why businesses like air charter services are still doing great. After all aren't they a more luxurious business and not a necessity?

A Private Jet - Cool Trip, Comfort And Customised Service. But Cost?
Hmm, interesting question isn't it? For many people the thought of a private jet brings forward images of rock stars, high flying businessmen and a far more expensive than anything you could imagine. But how truthful is this image, and how helpful - or harmful?

The Easy Of Having Great Meals Will Encourage You For Another Trip With Private Jet Rental
Have you ever flown on a scheduled flight with hundreds of other people, as opposed to opting for private jet rental? Most of us have at one time or another. But what did you think of it? In particular, how would you rate the meal you got en route to your destination?

Cheapest Flight Tickets - How To Get Affordable Tickets
Air travel was once viewed as a relatively more expensive mode of transport that catered to demographics that have money to spare. That perception has changed dramatically with the advent of "no frills" airlines.

Tips On Finding Reasonable Japan Flights On The Web
A person who is looking for cheap flights to Japan would do well to check flight prices on various internet travel agencies. Following are some helpful tips on finding cheap Japan flights over the internet.

Other Readings

Useful Resources