{"id":133,"date":"2010-12-21T21:55:23","date_gmt":"2010-12-21T21:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/?p=133"},"modified":"2010-12-22T16:40:34","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T16:40:34","slug":"tsa-scanners-should-we-worry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/21\/tsa-scanners-should-we-worry\/","title":{"rendered":"TSA scanners, should we worry?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following quote seems a little ironic coming from the genius who produced the first commercially available fluoroscope: \u00a0“Don’t talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them.”- Thomas Edison<\/p>\n

It seems as though Edison\u2019s fears were well-founded.\u00a0 Better known as the inventor of the light bulb, phonograph and motion pictures, few people realize that Edison was actually a leading pioneer in the field of x-ray until his assistant, Clarence Dally, died from exposure to fluoroscopes, a device using a type of radiation similar to the scanners in question.\u00a0 That was a hundred years ago, yet somehow we\u2019re slow to take the hint.\u00a0 Proponents are quick to point out that our technology is much better now than it was then, and it is.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t justify blindly going along with a potentially dangerous procedure.\u00a0 Before we succumb to a terrorism-induced hysteria, let\u2019s look at our history on the matter.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately when x-ray first came on the scene, physicians and other health care workers assumed that what they didn\u2019t see couldn\u2019t hurt them.\u00a0 Then, after years of exposures, leukemia deaths and other radiation related problems started showing up in these people.\u00a0 The dangers of repeated radiation exposure were clearly established and the potentially lethal consequences were broadly understood.\u00a0 Nevertheless, 30 years later Shoe-fitting Fluoroscopes came on the scene in shoe stores as a gimmick to convince parents to buy shoes.\u00a0 It\u2019s really shocking to think that the devices were targeted at children, the group whose growing tissues are most sensitive to radiation.\u00a0 In the photo (below): the child wearing the new shoes would stand at the back where they would insert their feet into the machine; note that there are 3 port holes, one for each parent and one for the child to all look down the business end of the x-ray producing fluoroscope as the child wiggled his or her toes in the would-be new pair of shoes!<\/p>\n

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The Shoe Fluoroscope <\/p><\/div>\n

It wasn\u2019t until the 1960\u2019s that these horrific devices were completely banned in the U.S. (yet they continued to be used in Europe for another decade).\u00a0 For decades radiologists have been telling women to have mammograms for early detection of breast cancer. \u00a0\u00a0The idea was that despite the radiation exposure of the mammogram, earlier detection might save lives. \u00a0Now that \u201cwisdom\u201d has come under fire as the best science doesn\u2019t support the assumption.\u00a0 A recent study even notes that the procedure may do more harm than good: http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/o\/cochrane\/clsysrev\/articles\/CD001877\/frame.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Yesterday (December 20, 2010) an investigative report was released by AOL News, Andrew Schneider, Senior Public Health Correspondent entitled, \u201cAOL Investigation: No Proof TSA Scanners Are Safe<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 The article notes that according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) their scans are \u201c\u2026equal to about an hour of normal background radiation, such as the amount absorbed while walking through a park<\/em>\u2026\u201d
\nHowever, \u00a0the TSA position appears cavalier when we consider, \u201c\u2026most radiation health specialists say there is no “safe” dose of radiation, so any planned exposure must be justified.<\/em>\u201d http:\/\/www.aolnews.com\/2010\/12\/20\/aol-investigation-no-proof-tsa-scanners-are-safe\/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk5%7C32490<\/a><\/p>\n

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TSA scanner uses radiation<\/p><\/div>\n<\/dt>\n

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Scientists universally agree that radiation exposure causes cancer and other serious problems.\u00a0 The only thing that\u2019s in question is just how much is safe.\u00a0 Unfortunately that question has no universal answer, and when big money is involved the science tends to take a back seat to profit.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a rational person to do when the experts disagree?\u00a0 The answer may be simpler than it appears, \u201cAvoid all<\/em><\/strong> unnecessary exposures.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t look forward to being groped by a TSA inspector, but if I had to choose between being groped and being radiated – well, radiation damage never goes away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…What\u2019s a rational person to do when the experts disagree? The answer may be simpler than it appears, \u201cAvoid all unnecessary exposures.\u201d Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-airport-security","tag-airport-security-checks","tag-airport-security-questions","tag-airport-security-tips","tag-airport-security-video","tag-are-airport-body-scanners-safe","tag-body-scan","tag-body-scanner","tag-body-scanners","tag-body-scans","tag-body-scans-at-airports","tag-tsa-scanners","tag-tsa-x-rays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137,"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions\/137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youneedchiro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}