Friday, November 18, 2011

Europe Bans X-Ray Scanners Used at US Airports

Interesting. ProPublica says that Europe just banned x-ray scanners used in airports because of health and safety concerns:

Europe Bans X-Ray Body Scanners Used At US Airports

But the US is continuing to use them "to detect dangerous or illegal items."

Here's the European Commission's Press Release from November 14:

Aviation Security: Commission Adopts New Rules On The Use Of Security Scanners At European Airports
"In order not to risk jeopardising citizens' health and safety, only security scanners which do not use X-ray technology are added to the list of authorised methods for passenger screening at EU airports."
Are Americans less vulnerable to ionizing radiation?
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7 comments:

  1. Perhaps not less suseptable to radiation but likely more suseptable to terrorism attacks.

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  2. Well, it figures. Here I am off to Memphis, where they actually use these whole body scanners. May ask to be patted down instead. They do *not* use them in Philly, thankfully. I don't want to go--waaaahhhhh!

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  3. Considering how much I fly (almost never), I'm not too worried on a personal level, but what about people who fly all the time for business travel? No bueno. I wonder if we might see some class action lawsuits in a couple decades.

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  4. I agree w/ Caulfieldkid (is that Shaun?). I don't fly much, but radiation is cumulative.

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  5. Shaun, good point about business travel. I feel bad for fetuses too, from the radiation during the flight also. If I was pregnant I'd try to drive if I could.

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  6. Cumulative ...

    This article mentions an alternative that uses less harmful radio waves. Why not develop that technology?

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  7. I did the physical pat-down. Very respectful and not bad at all. Good to avoid the radiation!

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