This is not only a rant now, I STILL have serious concerns about the safety of these machines.
To quote a comment by "Sean" on the NPR Science Friday program for 11/19/10:
"Just as with the THERAC-25 radiation overdoses in the 1980's, the question is not about what amount of radiation these body scanning machines usually emit, or have done in a few tests. The question is what amount of radiation they are capable of emitting due either to flawed or malicious design, implementation, or operation."
Two types of machines exist: Milimeter Wave Scan and X-Ray Backscatter. Both work on the principle of firing a beam of radiation at an individual and recording what gets reflected back (similar to radar or sonar.
RE: MILIMETER WAVE SCANNERS (which many consider safer than Backscatter, and which I did too, until now):
Milimeter waves are supposedly "not so different from microwaves". (David J. Brenner, Director, Center for Radiological Research Columbia University http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201011191 Friday, November 19th, 2010: Airport Scanners)
More:
In order to generate the nude image of the human body, these machines emit terahertz photons -- high-frequency energy "particles" that can pass through clothing and body tissue.
The manufacturers of such machines claim they are perfectly safe and present no health risks, but a study conducted by Boian S. Alexandrov (and colleagues) at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico showed that these terahertz waves could "...unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication."
Never approved as safe for humans
"At first glance, it's easy to dismiss any notion that they can be damaging," reports TechnologyReview.com (http://www.technologyreview.com/blo...). "But a new generation of cameras are set to appear that not only record terahertz waves but also bombard us with them. And if our exposure is set to increase, the question that urgently needs answering is what level of terahertz exposure is safe."
And yet no such long-term safety testing has ever been conducted by a third party. There have been no clinical trials indicating that multiple exposures to such terahertz waves, accumulated over a long period of time, are safe for humans. The FDA, in particular, has never granted its approval for any such devices even though these devices clearly qualify as "medical devices."
If you try to sell an X-ray imaging device yourself, without FDA approval, you'll be arrested.
(http://www.naturalnews.com/027913_full-body_scanners_DNA.html)
"Just as with the THERAC-25 radiation overdoses in the 1980's, the question is not about what amount of radiation these body scanning machines usually emit, or have done in a few tests. The question is what amount of radiation they are capable of emitting due either to flawed or malicious design, implementation, or operation."
Two types of machines exist: Milimeter Wave Scan and X-Ray Backscatter. Both work on the principle of firing a beam of radiation at an individual and recording what gets reflected back (similar to radar or sonar.
RE: MILIMETER WAVE SCANNERS (which many consider safer than Backscatter, and which I did too, until now):
Milimeter waves are supposedly "not so different from microwaves". (David J. Brenner, Director, Center for Radiological Research Columbia University http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201011191 Friday, November 19th, 2010: Airport Scanners)
More:
In order to generate the nude image of the human body, these machines emit terahertz photons -- high-frequency energy "particles" that can pass through clothing and body tissue.
The manufacturers of such machines claim they are perfectly safe and present no health risks, but a study conducted by Boian S. Alexandrov (and colleagues) at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico showed that these terahertz waves could "...unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication."
Never approved as safe for humans
"At first glance, it's easy to dismiss any notion that they can be damaging," reports TechnologyReview.com (http://www.technologyreview.com/blo...). "But a new generation of cameras are set to appear that not only record terahertz waves but also bombard us with them. And if our exposure is set to increase, the question that urgently needs answering is what level of terahertz exposure is safe."
And yet no such long-term safety testing has ever been conducted by a third party. There have been no clinical trials indicating that multiple exposures to such terahertz waves, accumulated over a long period of time, are safe for humans. The FDA, in particular, has never granted its approval for any such devices even though these devices clearly qualify as "medical devices."
If you try to sell an X-ray imaging device yourself, without FDA approval, you'll be arrested.
(http://www.naturalnews.com/027913_full-body_scanners_DNA.html)