In 1998, a panel of radiation safety experts gathered to evaluate a new airport security device called the Secure 1000, which was designed to beam X-rays at people to see underneath their clothing. One after another, the experts pointed out that the machine violated a basic principle of radiation safety: humans should not be X-rayed unless there is a medical benefit.
Nonetheless, today millions of airline passengers in the U.S. walk through such X-ray body scanners, even though many other countries have concluded that they pose an unacceptable health risk. Even though safer, effective alternatives are available, the U.S. government is relying on the X-ray scanners.
Scientific American reports:
“Research suggests that anywhere from six to 100 U.S. airline passengers each year could get cancer from the machines. Still, the TSA has repeatedly defined the scanners as ‘safe,’ glossing over the accepted scientific view that even low doses of ionizing radiation -- the kind beamed directly at the body by the X-ray scanners -- increase the risk of cancer.”