U.S. Government Glossed Over Cancer Concerns As It Rolled Out Airport X-Ray Scanners, claims Michael Grabell, ProPublica
This appears to be timed to raise anxiety with the holiday travel season rush. Look for a PBS NewsHour [scare] story on X-ray body scanners, reported in conjunction with ProPublica, to air later this month. Their opening salvo is here.
X-rays are penetrating radiation. The levels at the TSA machines are miniscule but real. The risk from this radiation is extremely small, and only exists as a statistically insignificant risk of cancer.
However —-
The public has not been clearly informed of real radiation risks in any accurate fashion. Public education about the real hazards of radiation is non-existent. They have the anti’s frightening them; the pro’s patting their hands; and the movies telling them they either glow green and melt into a phosphorescent puddle or get super powers. In light of that it is almost impossible for a normal person to have any chance at making an informed decision.
Then add in the value of our TSA in actually preventing any bad guys getting aboard, and this whole argument seems silly.
Technically (and trivially) true but back scatter scanning works precisely because people do not absorb this radiation.
You leave unaddressed the problem of an uneducated public. Of the two issues I raised, education is far more important.
P.S. I teach radiation safety to radiation safety professionals.