cost of these airport scans vs medical scans???

[nannah]

Just curious to understand how these scanners are different than medical scanners and what the cost differential is? does anyone know?

[leftstreet]

1. TSA scans are a better bargain since they also scan the uninsured

:sarcasm: :spank:

[Schema Thing]

2. :)

[CrispyQ]

7. Harr!

[CreekDog]

3. I don't know the cost per scan, but here's a short explanation of the difference:

"First, the TSA website compares the dose of radiation received from the machines to the radiation from cell phones (I will note this comparison is for the millimeter wave machines, not the back scatter variety). This is not a good comparison and may lead to confusion about the two different types of machines being used. Cell phones emit radio waves. Radio waves, while electromagnetic waves like gamma radiation, are much longer and of significantly lower energy, and, thus are not ionizing radiation. That is, they do not have the ability to damage DNA and to cause cancer. I can put a flask of cells next to a radio wave emitter and the cells will grow just fine and not accumulate any additional mutations from that exposure.

Second, the TSA often compares the radiation from the back scatter machines to chest X-rays or cosmic radiation. These are much higher energy and typically pass through the body, so the dose is more diffuse and over a much larger part of your body. The back scatter radiation from the scanners is lower energy, but still ionizing, so the exposure is concentrated within a small amount of your body (the top layers of skin). This could potentially increase the effective exposure by 10-100-fold over what the TSA is saying. This second point is the one that the UCSF letter discusses in much greater detail.

The TSA also admits that the ionizing radiation penetrates through 1/10 of an inch of the skin. While that might not sound like much to many lay folks, that is actually quite significant. There is A LOT going on in your skin at 1/10 of an inch. To expose that layer of skin to increased ionizing radiation will lead to increased damage and the potential for mutations and ultimately cancer. It would take years to figure this out and maybe that is what the TSA/DHS is hoping for...the fog of epidemiology to hide the true health impacts. Look how long it took for the risks of smoking cigarettes, with a clear danger, to become well accepted with tons of independent data confirming the point.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/11/the_safety_question_pt2.php#more?ref=fpblg

[nannah]

5. thanks for the info...still wondering about costs

considering the cost to patient for various medical imaging procedures vs free body imaging for airport security. how do the cost factors compare....how much more expensive is one type of scan over the other. put another way, my question is, are medical imaging procedures expensive because they are perceived as valuable by consumers vs body scanners priced to be used for screening in airports.

[CreekDog]

6. body scanners are million dollar machines

...plus the people to operate them, maintenance, etc.

you could probably figure out roughly what it costs per image. knowing Americans a majority of them might get more worked up at the cost than at the health dangers.

[uppityperson]

4. TSA scans the skin. Medical scanners look at what is inside you.

If you need your skin looked at by a health care provider, you can simply remove your clothing. CAT/MRI/etc look at what is inside your body, not accessible by simple clothing removal.

TSA scans your skin. For free.