USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

[sharon sanders]

Are the TSA scanners a public health threat? We are starting a thread to discuss this. The Bureau of Transportation statistics estimates 621,000,000 passenger trips will occur in the US this year. Many of these are repeat passengers. Some people have jobs that require quite a bit of air travel. The choices seem to be either a radiation scan of the body that reveals genital areas or a full body pat down where genital and breast areas are physically touched by airport security agents.

This from USA Today

""The thing that worries me the most is what happens if the thing fails in some way" and emits too much radiation, said Arizona State University
physics professor Peter Rez.
The risk for failure is higher than in a medical setting because the machines are operated much more often, and by TSA workers without medical training, Rez said.
American Airlines pilot Sam Mayer said pilots he knows are opting out of being scanned."

​

And what about the psychological impact for women who have been sexually assaulted? This from National Organization for Women:

​

"SEXUAL VIOLENCE
​

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, 232,960 women in the U.S. were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006. That's more than 600 women every day.⁶ Other estimates, such as those generated by the FBI, are much lower because they rely on data from law enforcement agencies. A significant number of crimes are never even reported for reasons that include the victim's feeling that nothing can/will be done and the personal nature of the incident.⁷

​

Men experience sexual trauma too. What about them?

What about men and women with no history of sexual trauma but are shy, or have "conservative" religious beliefs?

Or the effects of this non-medically supervised radiation exposure on people with a history of cancer, or like me, thyroid disease.

I am not personally comfortable with the choices. I either let some strangers look at my virtually nude body via radiation screening and hope this does not worsen my disease, or I let someone physically probe my body parts.






​

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

If you refuse:

Enforcement Sanctions Guidance

This policy directive provides sanction guidance for imposing civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation for aircraft operators and up to $10,000 per violation for all other persons, including individuals, when a determination is made that civil penalty enforcement action should be taken. This sanction guidance is being issued to assist TSA personnel on the appropriate application of penalties under TSA's present civil penalty authority.

• Enforcement Sanction Guidance Policy (pdf, 134kb)

----------------------------------------------


"..Also we are going to be doing a groin check.."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UqM56e-kRA&feature=related

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

David J. Brenner, Ph.D., director of Columbia University?s Center for Radiological Research, has also voiced caution about x-raying millions of air travelers. He was a member of the government committee that set the safety guidelines for the x-ray scanners in 2003.

snip

?The classic problem in low-dose radiological epidemiology is that 20% of us die of cancer,? Brenner said. ?You?re looking at a tiny increase and it?s difficult to determine.? In a sense, the ?great public health experiment? is already under way, he said.

more at....

http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/safety/content/article/113619/1639809

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

The millimeter waves used in these scanners function in the terahertz frequency which should be too low in energy to cause chemical bond breaking or ionizations like uv and x-rays would. But, the authors of the paper below suggest that the energy involved would be sufficient to cause resonance in the bonds holding DNA strands together which could cause them to break leading to replication errors (ie cancer). The second link is to an MIT Technology Review article from October last. It is of interest also for the comments following the article. It would be interesting to find out if anyone is testing the theory.

DNA Breathing Dynamics in the Presence of a Terahertz Field
Authors: B. S. Alexandrov, V. Gelev, A. R. Bishop, A. Usheva, K. O. Rasmussen
(Submitted on 28 Oct 2009)
Abstract: We consider the influence of a terahertz field on the breathing dynamics of double-stranded DNA. We model the spontaneous formation of spatially localized openings of a damped and driven DNA chain, and find that linear instabilities lead to dynamic dimerization, while true local strand separations require a threshold amplitude mechanism. Based on our results we argue that a specific terahertz radiation exposure may significantly affect the natural dynamics of DNA, and thereby influence intricate molecular processes involved in gene expression and DNA replication.
Subjects: Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph); Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph)
Journal reference: Physics Letters A, Volume 374, Issue 10, 2010
DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2009.12.077
Report number: LA-UR 09-03248
Cite as: arXiv:0910.5294v1 [physics.bio-ph]
http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.5294

How Terahertz Waves Tear Apart DNA
A new model of the way the THz waves interact with DNA explains how the damage is done and why evidence has been so hard to gather

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24331/

 

[Emily]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

She says she was lifted off her heels by the groin search it was so rough. She was singled out because she wore a skirt.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=140233&catid=14

Enhanced pat down leaves Grand Rapids airline passenger in tears
Phil Dawson Christa Graban
Updated:11/19/2010 1:24:21 PM - Posted: 11/18/2010 11:41:42 PM

Words to remember today, November 22, 2010, the 47th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03NewspaperPublishers04271961.htm

"...Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it...."

 

[Shiloh]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

TSA needs to understand about personal space. It is a very real concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_space
Americans in particular, like to keep physical distance between themselves and others (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_contact_and_personal_space_in_the_United_States).
Being groped clearly violates that space and there will be psychological consequences.

 

[jflorida]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Its more than just airports:

Full-Body Scan Technology Deployed In Street-Roving Vans

American Science & Engineering, a company based in Billerica, Massachusetts, has sold U.S. and foreign government agencies more than 500 backscatter x-ray scanners mounted in vans that can be driven past neighboring vehicles to see their contents, Joe Reiss, a vice president of marketing at the company told me in an interview. While the biggest buyer of AS&E?s machines over the last seven years has been the Department of Defense operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Reiss says law enforcement agencies have also deployed the vans to search for vehicle-based bombs in the U.S.

?This product is now the largest selling cargo and vehicle inspection system ever,? says Reiss.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

<table class="contentpaneopen"><tbody><tr><td class="contentheading" width="100%">Holt Continues to Question Science, Effectiveness of TSA Full Body Scanners </td> <td class="buttonheading" width="100%" align="right">
</td> <td class="buttonheading" width="100%" align="right">
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table class="contentpaneopen"><tbody><tr> <td class="createdate" valign="top"> Monday, 22 November 2010 11:35 </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> 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.

A couple of the letter is below:
The Honorable John Pistole
Administrator
Transportation Security Administration
TSA-1
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 20598

Dear Administrator Pistole,

When Americans witness three year-old children being aggressively patted down by TSA screeners—as was the case this month—our airline security screening system is broken.

As a scientist and the chairman of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, 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.
In March, the Congressional Biomedical Caucus (of which I am a co-chair) hosted a presentation on this technology by TSA, as well as a briefing by Dr. David Brenner of Columbia University on the potential health effects of “back scatter” x-ray devices. As Dr. Brenner noted in his presentation and in subsequent media interviews, the devices currently in use and proposed for wider deployment this year currently 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 our government should investigate thoroughly the potential health risks associated with this technology.
Additionally, it appears that these devices can detect explosives or other dangerous objects inside of body cavities. As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted in a March 2010 report on the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) program, “While TSA officials stated that the laboratory and operational testing of the AIT included placing explosive material in different locations on the body, it remains unclear whether the AIT would have been able to detect the weapon Mr. Abdulmutallab used in his attempted attack based on the preliminary TSA information we have received.” A head-long rush to embrace fallible technology will only give the public the illusion of increased security at the expense of their privacy and dignity, with no assurance that the use of these machines will actually deter or detect terrorists before they act.

Further, news reports from earlier this year detailing how the U.S. Marshalls Service was inappropriately storing scanned body images at a U.S. court house raise clear concerns about the privacy protections needed to manage this technology. I am aware of at least one lawsuit pending against the Department of Homeland Security that alleges that the technology violates the Privacy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
I understand that TSA told GAO investigators that “the AIT’s capability to store, print, transmit, or save the image will be disabled at the factory before the machines are delivered to airports, and each image is automatically deleted from the system after it is cleared by the remotely located security officer.” However, I am not aware of any independent (i.e., non-TSA) inspection of the existing devices that confirms that they have been modified as described. Nor am I aware of any TSA directive prohibiting personnel who are operating AIT’s from having personal videorecording devices (such as smartphones) on their person while operating the machines. Absent such a prohibition and independent confirmation that the AIT’s ability to store and transmit images are disabled, I fail to see how the Congress and the flying public can have confidence that the very legitimate civil liberties and privacy concerns of passengers have been addressed.

Finally, let me return to the images of that little girl being frisked by a TSA screener. What behavioral indicator led the screener in question to believe that little girl needed such an invasive pat-down? If no valid behavioral or other threat indicator was present, why did the screener conduct the aggressive frisking? If the girl’s mother or father were deemed a threat, why were they not segregated for further questioning, in private? The entire episode has served as a symbol of an invasive, technology-driven passenger screening process that is not making us safer, even as it humiliates, degrades, and enrages a public that deserves far better from those ostensibly seeking to protect them.
I’ve visited Israel many times in my life, including this fall. I have been impressed by how effective—and minimally intrusive—their airline passenger screening system is, particularly given the daily terrorist threat to Israel’s citizens. Clearly, our government would learn much from their system. If a country as small and threatened as Israel can effectively protect their flying public, there is no reason why American children and their parents cannot be protected using the same layered, common sense-based system employed by Israel.

Like other members of Congress, I am hearing from my constituents about this issue, and as one of them observed to me, “Forcing us to choose between the new, body-scan machines which will subject us to possible risk of radiation, with strangers viewing our naked bodies; or being subjected to humiliating touching of our private parts is unacceptable. We have traveled extensively in foreign countries, and their methods of using well trained personnel at layered checkpoints is less intrusive and far superior.
How can Americans be treated this way?”
I agree, which is why I am asking you to meet with me to discuss:

1) Any reports from independent entities that have validated the effectiveness of the AIT systems currently being fielded to detect the full range of explosive threats known or anticipated to be employed by potential terrorists.
2) Whether any independent entity has verified that the AIT machines have been modified so as to ensure that no permanent record of a passenger scan is retained, retransmitted, or otherwise copied either directly from the AIT machine itself or by TSA or other personnel utilizing any form of videorecording technology.

3) The measures TSA has taken to address GAO’s concerns and recommendations regarding the employment, cost-benefit analysis, and expected over all costs of fielding these AIT systems.
4) The measures TSA has taken to improve and validate its Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program, as discussed in GAO’s May 2010 report on the program.

5) Why TSA does not systematically use watch list-derived intelligence information to screen passengers more selectively via AIT systems and the SPOT program.
6) Whether or not TSA has sought or received recommendations from the government of Israel about how TSA could improve its screening programs without invading the privacy of passengers.

Sincerely,


RUSH HOLT
Member of Congress
</td></tr></tbody></table>

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

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

It is inhumane to require that millions of people subject themselves to non-medically supervised radiation, sexually graphic, scanners or to sexual touching by the government to be able to use transportation.

I am going to drive. If I can not drive, then I am not going.

This is an international site. As such, I speak to many non-US citizens everyday. Every single one of the non-US citizens that I have spoken to has told me that they are going to delay, or not visit the US, if they and their children are subjected to the invasive screening processes. There is discussion outside the US that this screening is sexual child abuse.

Approximately 40 million visitors come to Florida via airplane every year. This represents more than 1/2 of our total. Our economy depends on tourism. Many times over the years I have attended the Disney amusement parks. While I wait in line for rides I hear languages spoken from all over the world.

What is the economical impact of these invasive searches?

 

[Annie Prange]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Airport pat-downs may raise infection risk
And the more intimate the contact, the germier it gets
By Amanda Chan

Excerpt from above article link...
But as screening procedures get stricter and more passengers opt for pat-downs instead of graphic X-rays, the likelihood of bacteria being spread increases, said Patrick Schlievert, a microbiology and immunology professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

The more aggressive the searches, and the more intimate contact there is, the higher the likelihood of transmitting infection, Schlievert said.

"When you touch people, you start picking up their organisms," he told MyHealthNewsDaily. "That might be OK if you wear gloves, but what about everyone else you're touching down the road?"

...

And, what about the transfer of lice if they don't use fresh gloves between passengers as they run their gloves through your hair?
And worse when they run their hands inside your pants - Absolutely gross..

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

In the tapes I have seen it did not appear that the TSA inspectors changed gloves after each detainee.

 

[jflorida]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

They are incredibly invasive and they will be used a lot more if not challenged:

Screening Protests Grow as Holiday Crunch Looms

"I?m getting a lot of questions about the new security regime, including some pointed ones from women. Do the imagers, for example, detect sanitary napkins? Yes. Does that then necessitate a pat-down? The T.S.A. couldn?t say. Screeners, the T.S.A. has said, are expected to exercise some discretion."

Next step for body scanners could be trains, boats, metro

"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano - "?I think the tighter we get on aviation, we have to also be thinking now about going on to mass transit or to trains or maritime. So, what do we need to be doing to strengthen our protections there?"

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Indian embassy taking up Ambassador ?pat down? with State Department
Narayan Lakshman

She was taken to a waiting room ?despite the staff being told that she was an Ambassador?
Meera Shankar

Washington: An official of the Indian embassy in Washington confirmed to The Hindu that Indian Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar was subjected to a ?pat down? at the Jackson-Evers International Airport in Mississippi, and that ?in all likelihood she was singled out because she was in a sari.?

Following External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's description of the episode as ?unacceptable,? the Embassy official here further confirmed that the matter was being taken up with the State Department. A State Department official did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

...

USA Today quoted Tan Tsai, a research associate at MSU who was at the scene, saying, ?She is a very strong woman, but you could see in her face that she was humiliated... Indian culture is very modest.?

...

Unacceptable: Krishna

Sandeep Dikshit writes from New Delhi:

Mr. Krishna termed the incident ?unacceptable.? This would be taken up with Washington, he said.
?This is unacceptable to India and we are going to take it up with the U.S. government and I hope things could be resolved so that such unpleasant incidents do not recur,? he told journalists.

?I am rather surprised by the way the Indian Ambassador to the U.S. has been treated. This has happened for a second time in three months. There are various procedures through which we take it up with government of the U.S.,? he said.

Mr. Krishna pointed out that there were ?certain well-established conventions, well-established practices as to how members of diplomatic corps are treated in a given country.?

The Minister hoped India's cordial relationship with the U.S. would continue and be taken forward.

According to a source in the Ministry of External Affairs, Ms. Shankar was singled out from among 30 passengers and put through a public ?pat down? at the airport.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/10/stories/2010121064891400.htm

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Airport Pat-Down Protocol Changed
Women Complained That Security Checks Were Humiliating

By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 23, 2004; Page E01
... Screeners had been instructed to use their hands to touch women between and underneath their breasts to inspect for explosives that might be hidden beneath clothing. Now, the agency said, security screeners will be directed to pat down only the "chest perimeter" of female passengers and not to touch women between their breasts unless they set off a hand-held metal detector in the chest area. Female screeners perform the procedure on female passengers.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20026-2004Dec22.html

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Another Indian diplomat patted down at a US airport

STAFF WRITER 15:8 HRS IST
New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Close on the heels of Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar being subjected to a 'pat-down' search, another incident of top Indian diplomat Hardeep Puri being patted down at Houston Airport has come to light following which India has lodged a strong protest with the US.

According to reports, Puri, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was asked by airport officials to remove his turban during a security check two weeks back at Houston Airport.

When Puri refused to remove his turban, the officials made him wait for over half-an-hour in a 'holding room'.

India has lodged an official protest through its Consulate General in Houston with the US authorities, sources said here.

.....

http://ptinews.com/news/1187708_Another-Indian-diplomat-patted-down-at-a-US-airport

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Outrage after TSA pats down 6-year-old at N.O. Airport

wwltv.com
Posted on April 12, 2011 at 6:23 PM
Updated today at 9:29 AM
<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = FB /><FB:LIKE width="130" layout="button_count" show_faces="false" action="recommend"></FB:LIKE>
Katie Moore / Eyewitness News

NEW ORLEANS -- Some civil rights advocates are outraged after a 6-year-old girl received an intense pat-down at Armstrong International Airport security on April 5.

Someone caught the pat-down on video, and it's making its way around the Internet.

It has many asking, are the intense security screenings really necessary, especially for a little girl?


More...
http://www.wwltv.com/news/tsascreens6yearoldgirlsparkingoutrage-119726839.html

http://<IFRAME title="YouTube video player" height=390 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-3sH1GaO_nw" frameBorder=0 width=480 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3sH1GaO_nw&feature=player_embedded

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Genital herpes can spread despite lack of symptoms; endangering others

 

[Emily]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

http://www.irsn.fr/EN/news/Pages/20101209-Backscatter_X-ray_body_scanners_IRSN_assesses_the_health_risks.aspx

Backscatter X-ray body scanners : IRSN assesses the health risks
09/12/2010

These extremely low doses, although at first sight negligible, must however be considered in the light of the underlying principle of radiation protection and particularly that of justification [2]. According to this principle, any dose, however low, must be avoided if it proves to be unnecessary with regard to individual, collective or societal interest. Certain practices, even though delivering extremely low doses, may thus not be authorised, particularly when an alternative technology exists with comparable performance without any known impact on health.


It is for this reason that IRSN has recommended that the French authorities do not retain the option of X-ray scanners but instead turn to technologies with comparable detection performance that do not employ ionising radiation, such as the ProVision 100 "millimetre" wave body scanner, which has been the subject of a report by AFSSET (French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety).

You can download the full report at the link above.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

Source: http://www.propublica.org/article/scientists-cast-doubt-on-tsa-tests-of-full-body-scanners

Scientists Cast Doubt on TSA Tests of Full-Body Scanners
by Michael Grabell
ProPublica, May 16, 2011, 2:11 p.m.


The Transportation Security Administration says its full-body X-ray scanners are safe and that radiation from a scan is equivalent to what's received in about two minutes of flying. The company that makes them says it's safer than eating a banana [1].

But some scientists with expertise in imaging and cancer say the evidence made public to support those claims is unreliable. And in a new letter [2] sent to White House science adviser John Holdren, they question why the TSA won't make the scanners available for independent testing by outside scientists...

 

[Emily]

Re: USA - TSA Scanners - A Public Health Threat, Physical or Psychological?

I was watching a video of Gulf of Mexico oil disaster activists attempt to film their experience going through a TSA checkpoint late last year and noticed something very strange. The TSA did not want them filming the x-ray machine. They did not have a problem with agents getting filmed, but the security officer in this video said it was a federal crime to film the x-ray machines themselves while the machines are in use.

Maybe it is a privacy issue, but I thought the images were screened from public view. What I wondered about is if the TSA is concerned about people using film rather than digital cameras to film the backscatter machines and picking up artifacts on the film.

http://www.ndt-ed.org/TeachingResources/NDT_Tips/X-rayBackscatter.htm

That might emphasize the x-ray technology to the public.

<object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XpqT59cI-Fw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XpqT59cI-Fw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>