Body Scanners and Pat Downs at Airport: Necessary or Not?

      Everyone wants their “15 minutes of fame” right?  Well, John Tyner, of Oceanside, California got his two weeks ago on Saturday, Nov. 13^th, when he was going through the San Diego Airport.   You can see on YouTube a video of him having a confrontation with airport security regarding the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new pat-down searches.  Tyner says he wasn’t comfortable with the procedure, where security will slide their hands inside a passenger’s legs and across their chests.  He compared this to a sexual assault.  His story has brought up some great questions about body scanners, and pat downs. Specifically, are they safe? Is the procedure too invasive? Do the procedures violate our constitutional rights, and are they really necessary?

     The TSA fully supports the use of pat-downs, and full body scans. They feel they are safe, and will be able to help find explosives that can’t be detected by metal detectors.  In a statement from The National Institute of Science and Technology and John Hopkins University, “The radiation from the scans is minimal”.   With this being said, people are still concerned about the possible health risks from the radiation the machines put out.  The TSA has gotten reports that the levels of radiation are miniscule.  They compare it to about a thousandth of what you get from a chest x-ray.  There are two types of body scanners; backscatter scanners and millimeter wave scanners.  Backscatter scanners create a black and white two dimensional image that will show a reflection.  Millimeter wave scanners create a black and white three dimensional image by bouncing electromagnetic waves off the body.  The doses of radiation for both scanners are supposedly so small that most scientists who study radiology overlook it.

     Not all people are in agreement that the scanners are safe.  In a report from the University of San Francisco, it says there may be risks of cancer caused by the scanners.  Experts feel that the potential health consequences need to be studied before airports start using scanners.  Arizona State University physics professor, Peter Rez, told MSNBC.com that the radiation from scanners is closer to one fifteenth to one hundredth the amount of a chest x-ray.  It is the pilots, crew, and frequent fliers, which are most concerned with the safety of the scanners.  They worry that if they are consistently going through the scanners that use radiation, this will possibly lead to health problems and increase their risk of cancer.

     What about our constitutional rights?  Michael Roberts, a commercial pilot from Memphis, recently filed a lawsuit claiming that the new pat-down procedures violate his constitutional protections against unnecessary search and seizures. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/).   He is not the only one who feels like this.  Since the new pat-down procedures were put into place on Nov. 1^st, TSA has gotten 700 complaints per day from people who go through airport screenings. It sounds like there are pro’s and con’s to the scanners and body pats. On the other hand, what do people have to say that think they are necessary?

     A CBS News poll released Nov. 15^th showed that 81% of Americans believe airports should use full body scanners to screen passengers.  I am in agreement with them.  If this new technology is going to keep us safe and secure, I am all for it. When I fly on an airplane I want to know that there isn’t a person on the plane sitting next to me that got through security and has an explosive on his body.  I, for one, would rather be delayed a few minutes if that means I am safer when I am on a plane. 

     It will be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday, November 24^th.  Groups of people who are angry and totally against full body scanners are trying to organize a “National Opt-Out Day”.  They want airline passengers to refuse a body scan and insist on the pat down.  Since this is the day before Thanksgiving, it will be one of the busiest days of the year.  This is really going to slow down security lines and cause chaos in the airports.  The reason they want people to do this is to get Congress to change the way passengers are screened.  All I can say is, “I am glad I wasn’t going to be flying that day!”

    

     The question that needs to be answered is, “how safe do we really want to be”?  I read that TSA has already installed 365 full body scanners in 68 airports across the U.S. and they want to have 500 installed by the end of the year, and 1, 000 by the end of 2011. (www.chicagotribune.com). I, for one, think that this technology is probably safe, and that Mr. Tyner’s experience was overblown.   The body scanners seem like they will be very important to airport security.  I agree it is something that will be critical in stopping future terrorist’s attacks, so I am in support of the body scanners.