Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined. Patrick Henry (1736-1739)
As a frequent traveler, I want to see a better balance between personal safety and public safety. The TSA screening uses three types of technologies, low frequency electromagnetic fields, “back scatter” X-ray, and millimeter-wave scanners. My basic issue with the TSA screening is over personal safety being compromised by technologies that do not significantly increase public safety but increase personal risk factors. It is my opinion that Americans should not have to be irradiated in a similar way our luggage is screened. Across, the globe, public safety relies on safer screening technologies of electromagnetic magnetometer (metal) scanners. More recently, new technology called “millimeter-wave” screening is also a safer alternative to backscatter X-ray scanners.
Our personal liberty is being compromised by technological developments involving X-ray screening which exposes us to potentially harmful conditions that are known to damage DNA. Although the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) claims the potential for dangerous radiation exposure from the backscatter machine is low and that it doesn't pose a significant risk to passengers, they should not have the right to force airline travelers to be exposed to any potential cancer causing X-rays.
According to TSA website, each scan emits less than 1/1,000 of the radiation given off in a chest X-ray. To put in context to flying experience, this is equivalent of two minutes of high-altitude flight. However there is a fundamental difference in the X-ray screening equipment and background environmental radiation. The background radiation is not concentrated and is considered to be a uniformly distributed conditions Unlike environmental radiation, the TSA X-ray screening equipment subjects the individual to a concentrated burst of energy that exposes the skin to higher levels that is possible from in flight conditions.
We do have the right to opt of these X-ray screening devices as a personal decision. Despite the TSA claims about howsafe and low level the X-rays are, we have to be able to address our safety concerns. Recently, the European Union announced that it has banned the use of X-ray body scanners in all European airports "in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens' health and safety." Research shows that the X-ray scanners, which use low-level radiation to screen airline passengers for hidden explosives, slightly increase their risk of getting cancer. The same scanners will continue to be used in the United States, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA's stance is that the scanners meet its safety standards.
Approximately 250 X-ray scanners are currently being used in American airports, according to ProPublica, along with 264 millimeter-wave scanners. According the TSA, they believe they should be using both technologies in order to create competition, which keeps prices down and will ultimately lead to even better imaging technology. Has anyone asked the American citizens if they are willing to save money using a technology that knowingly exposes people to DNA damaging X-rays?
The TSA does provide airline travelers the option to opt out and receive a physical “pat down” screening. However, a recent New York Daily News about an 85-year-old woman who may sue TSA after being strip searched at JFK Airport raises questions about the actual implementation of TSA “pat down” policy. According to the story reported by Nicholas Hirshon, Lenore Zimmerman, who lives in Long Beach, says she was on her way to a 1 p.m. flight to Fort Lauderdale when security whisked her to a private room and took off her clothes.
What is infuriating is an 85 year old woman was forced to remove her clothes and TSA spokeswoman later said a review of closed circuit TV footage from the airport shows “proper procedures were followed.” This is outrageous!
“I walk with a walker — I really look like a terrorist,” Zimmerman said sarcastically. “I’m tiny. I weigh 110 pounds, 107 without clothes, and I was strip-searched.”
When Zimmerman reached a security checkpoint, she asked if she could forgo the advanced image technology screening equipment, fearing it might interfere with her defibrillator. She said she normally gets patted down. But this time, she says that two female agents escorted her to a private room and began to remove her clothes. What follows this next is the proverbially saying “add insult to injury”. Zimmerman received a cut on her leg during the handling she received from the two female TSA agents. The delays due to a medical agent administering a tetanus shot and applying a bandage on her wound resulted in Zimmerman missing her flight and spending the most of day in the airport.
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