A few months ago, the TSA agreed to test their full body scanners after anomalies appeared and public outcry raised concerns over the safety of the machines. Their new test results claim that the machines are safe and people shouldn’t worry about going through them.

“The latest reports confirm previous testing and show that every backscatter unit currently used for passenger screening in U.S. airports is operating well within applicable national safety standards,” said TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball.

Test results released by TSA in March showed some anomalies, such as missing data or calculation errors unrelated to safety. The agency ordered new tests for the scanners as well as other X-ray equipment used to screen baggage that had problematic reports.

The machines cannot produce more than 0.005 millirem per scan, according to TSA. In comparison, a chest X-ray will expose someone to 10 millirem of radiation and the maximum recommended exposure to radiation from man-made sources is 100 millirem per year, according to TSA.

Any amount of x-rays is unsafe. To force people, illegally, to go through the scanners increases their health risk. The scanners are also an outright violation of the 4th amendment.

Regardless of any outcome of these tests, the fact remains that the TSA is doing tests on their own machines. There are no independent studies of the machines as of yet, so it is difficult to believe these results haven’t been skewed in some manner. The TSA cannot count their so-called independent studies because they were given a test machine that was cobbled together. It was given a set of parameters and then tested in those parameters. No independent study has ever been given a machine that is in use in the field, thus those studies are not valid.

Given the fact that the European Parliament voted last week 37-2 on strict measures for the full body scanners, including the right to opt out of them on health concerns, just how safe are these machines?

Worried about the impact on health and privacy, the committee said X-ray scanners “using ionising radiation should be prohibited in the EU” and that no body images should be produced.

The committee added that images “must be destroyed right after the person has passed through the security control and may not be stored.”
A final vote will be taken in June. Let’s hope the vote holds up and at least Europeans and travelers to Europe will be able to avoid these invasive and illegal machines.

As for the US, there should be a choice of full body scanner, metal detector, or regular pat down (not the groping you currently get). Passengers shouldn’t have to beg for an opt out and they shouldn’t be humiliated with invasive pat downs as retaliation for their personal concern and safety.