Dr. Michael Love, who runs an X-ray lab at the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry at Johns Hopkins University School of medicine, stated that “the risk is minimal, but statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from these X-rays.” In addition, a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) raised concerns about the “potential serious health risks” of these scanners in a letter sent to the White House Office of Science earlier this year. Biochemist John Sedat, and his colleagues stated in the letter that the majority of the energy from the X-ray machines is delivered to the skin and underlying tissue.
Historically, science has traditionally accepted that no exposure to X-rays is good or beneficial to one’s health. X-ray equipment makes use of very narrow collimated x-ray beams of high intensity. Exposure of the eyes or the skin of the body to primary X-ray beams may result in severe radiation burns in a matter of seconds. These burns heal poorly, and on rare occasions have required amputation. A hazard may also exist from exposure to scattered radiation which is produced when the primary beam strikes collimators, samples, beam stops or shielding.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began using full-body scanners at U.S. airports in 2007, but increased use and deployment this year when stimulus funding made it possible to buy more. Currently, approximately 315 of the aforementioned X-ray scanners are in use at 65 U.S. airports, according to the TSA data.
