(no subject)
The next time I hear someone (and pilots, that includes you) whine about the increased risk of cancer from backscatter machines, I am going to FLIP MY FUCKING SHIT.
My god, what DO they teach people in schools these days.
I'm going to put a big ol' caveat up here first: I absolutely think that backscatter machines should be regularly inspected, calibrated, and monitored, preferably by an office of the DoE. I absolutely think that a malfunctioning backscatter machine could deal a dangerous dose of radiation, and that we should hold companies accountable to a very high standard with respect to something we make millions of people pass through every year. I am also absolutely willing to with draw the following if it turns out that the companies that make these machines are lying to us and the numbers below are wrong.
All that said: IF YOU DON'T WANT RADIATION EXPOSURE, DON'T FUCKING FLY.
The estimated dose of radiation from a backscatter machine is 0.01 mrem* per screening. The radiation dose from flying is approximately (altitude and latitude dependent!) 0.5 mrem/hour. If you have to circle for five minutes before landing, you receive more radiation than a scanner puts out. The dose limit to members of the public by radiation handling companies permitted by 10CFR20 is 0.1 rem-or 10,000 scans.
Fuck, an average year of TV watching for an American is the equivalent of 100 scans.
I am a trained and badged radiation worker. I receive quarterly updates on how much radiation I receive in the course of my job. I handle fairly strong radioactive sources. And you know what my number one source of radiation is? Being in an airplane.
So people, cut it the fuck out. Until we stop people from living in Denver, watching TV, and you know, flying, the backscatter machines are not a significant source of radiation in our lives.
Here's what we SHOULD be paying attention to: the invasiveness of backscatter machines and their danger to the medical privacy of individuals. And the fact that pilots and flight attendants are NOT radiation workers and do NOT have their radiation levels monitored, despite the fact that they receive far more radiation than, say, workers in nuclear power plants.
* mrem is a unit of radiation exposure. 500ish rem is an acute, lethal dose. The dose from background cosmic radiation is about 0.5 mrem/day, depending on altitude.
ETA: And the FDA has written a beautiful letter with beautiful footnotes to the same effect. Oooh, those footnotes make me happy.
My god, what DO they teach people in schools these days.
I'm going to put a big ol' caveat up here first: I absolutely think that backscatter machines should be regularly inspected, calibrated, and monitored, preferably by an office of the DoE. I absolutely think that a malfunctioning backscatter machine could deal a dangerous dose of radiation, and that we should hold companies accountable to a very high standard with respect to something we make millions of people pass through every year. I am also absolutely willing to with draw the following if it turns out that the companies that make these machines are lying to us and the numbers below are wrong.
All that said: IF YOU DON'T WANT RADIATION EXPOSURE, DON'T FUCKING FLY.
The estimated dose of radiation from a backscatter machine is 0.01 mrem* per screening. The radiation dose from flying is approximately (altitude and latitude dependent!) 0.5 mrem/hour. If you have to circle for five minutes before landing, you receive more radiation than a scanner puts out. The dose limit to members of the public by radiation handling companies permitted by 10CFR20 is 0.1 rem-or 10,000 scans.
Fuck, an average year of TV watching for an American is the equivalent of 100 scans.
I am a trained and badged radiation worker. I receive quarterly updates on how much radiation I receive in the course of my job. I handle fairly strong radioactive sources. And you know what my number one source of radiation is? Being in an airplane.
So people, cut it the fuck out. Until we stop people from living in Denver, watching TV, and you know, flying, the backscatter machines are not a significant source of radiation in our lives.
Here's what we SHOULD be paying attention to: the invasiveness of backscatter machines and their danger to the medical privacy of individuals. And the fact that pilots and flight attendants are NOT radiation workers and do NOT have their radiation levels monitored, despite the fact that they receive far more radiation than, say, workers in nuclear power plants.
* mrem is a unit of radiation exposure. 500ish rem is an acute, lethal dose. The dose from background cosmic radiation is about 0.5 mrem/day, depending on altitude.
ETA: And the FDA has written a beautiful letter with beautiful footnotes to the same effect. Oooh, those footnotes make me happy.