'Safe travels!' What risks are associated with airport security screenings?
Before the gifts are below the tree and the eggnog is in hand, many people will have to catch flights to be back with loved ones. With a week until Christmas, airports across the United States will be hectic for the near future.
Farah Naz Khan, an internal medicine residency at Emory University in Atlanta, asked a simple question in a blog post in Scientific American: How sure are we that full-body x-ray scanners, which use low doses of radiation, are completely safe?
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has relied heavily on advanced imaging technology since the “underwear bomber” failed to bring down a flight to Detroit on Christmas Day, 2009.
Khan argues the technology is ineffective in preventing terrorist attempts. She also questions
“[A]lthough there is no proof of long-term detrimental health effects from chronic exposure to non-ionizing radiation, we have also not been able to prove there is an absence of risk from these regular exposures,” she wrote. “Recent Business Insider analysis demonstrated Americans are millions of times more likely to die from heart disease or cancer than at the hands of terrorist attacks carried out by foreigners. And so, until there is proof that the machines either prevent terror attacks or are 100 percent safe even with long-term chronic exposure, I will continue to opt-out of AIT screenings.”
See her full piece here:
Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.