20x the scanner x-ray radiation reported by TSA

[Richard D]

In August, Holt Urged Congressional Leaders to Freeze Funding for Scanners Until End of Investigation
(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, a scientist and the Chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, Friday wrote the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), reiterating his concerns about the use of body imaging technology, notably about potential health effects and the effectiveness of the screening to detect the full range of explosive threats known or anticipated to be used by potential terrorists.

Earlier this year, the Congressional Biomedical Caucus - of which Holt is a co-chair – hosted a briefing by Dr. David Brenner of Columbia University on the potential health effects of “back scatter” x-ray devices. According to Dr. Brenner, the devices currently in use and proposed for wider deployment deliver to the scalp “20 times the average dose that is typically quoted by TSA and throughout the industry.” Dr. Brenner has pointed out that the majority of the radiation from X-ray backscatter machines strikes the top of the head, which is where 85 percent of the 800,000 cases of basal cell carcinoma diagnosed in the United States each year develop.

According to Dr. Brenner, excessive x-ray exposure can act as a cancer rate multiplier, which is why Holt has urged the government to investigate thoroughly the potential health risks associated with this technology. In August, Holt wrote to the House Committee on Appropriations calling for a freeze in funding for any further full-body scanning devices employing “back scatter” technology until the GAO completes its examination of the technology.
“I appreciate the challenges we face in trying to prevent terrorists from boarding American airliners. That same background also gives me an understanding of why TSA’s current obsession with fielding body imaging technology is misguided, counterproductive, and potentially dangerous,” Holt writes.

http://holt.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=651&Itemid=18

[inna]

1. k&r. important read.

[DeSwiss]

2. K&R

As if.....

[Matariki]

3. k&r

[bananas]

4. Rush Holt is a physicist - I'm glad he was re-elected.

Read the endorsement of him in post #2 of this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4599315
(I don't know anything about that website - just came across it when googling to see if he was re-elected).

[truedelphi]

5. K & R. The kabuki theater of the TSA Pat Downs is stupid and dangerous.

It also is not providing one whit of safety.

Some discussion of this at the following links:

http://cacr.iu.edu/sites/cacr.iu.edu/files/TSA-Policy.pdf

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9611442&mesg_id=9614771

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. Boys and their toys. The rush to put this potentially very harmful scanner

to immediate use lends much credence to the "too much technology and not enough wisdom" proposition. And, as always, follow the money...