Probability of Cancer from TSA scans? 1/30mil "US Airlines: 500+ mil people fly/yr"

[The Straight Story]

Expert: "Only one in 30 million people will probably get cancer from scanners." US Airlines: "532 million people fly per year"

-- With this coming Wednesday the busiest travel day of the year, many Americans will soon be subjected to radiation-emitting body scanners at the nation's airports.

Despite a rising tide of concerns and complaints in recent weeks over body scanners, most experts say the radiation exposure from these machines is too low to pose any serious health threat.

Peter Rez, a professor of physics at Arizona State University, said that when a scanner is working properly the amount of radiation exposed is very low.

"The probability of getting a fatal cancer is about one in 30 million, which puts it lower than the probability of being killed by being struck by lightning in any year in the United States, which is about one in 5 million," he said.

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/646395.html

U.S. airlines carried 561.9 million scheduled domestic and international passengers during the first nine months of 2006.

Peter Smith

Webmaster

http://www.globester.com/


Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_fly_in_a_year#ixzz16FyqjOCo

---------> Nod to Fark for the headline/OP Title

[Bobbieo]

1. Sure, but add that on to the number of times a person is subjected to radiation from

medical and dental x-rays, etc.

[The Straight Story]

2. With our health care? Pretty much none :) (nt)

[Bobbieo]

7. That may apply to the younger generation. I m 87, now. and I can't tell you how many tmes I have

been x-rayed in my lifetime - so far. I'd say I've had more than my share.

[CreekDog]

4. is it ionizing radiation that causes mutations within the outer 10 mm of skin?

because this stuff does that.

oh, and people are saying that if it can see through casts, which TSA is touting, then it's pumping out more radiation than TSA is reporting.

[backscatter712]

3. It's one thing if you're an occasional traveler who gets scanned once.

It's another if you're a flight attendant or pilot that has to get scanned daily as part of the job...

or worse, if you're a TSA agent that gets to stand next to the machine absorbing stray x-rays 8 hours a day, every day, for years. The cumulative dose has got to add up in that case...

[CreekDog]

5. If your cast or limb gets scanned, apparently 10 scans targeted at that part of your body are req'd

no opt out.

each time you fly.

once you start the screening it must be completed.

[bluestateguy]

6. And

That means 17-18 people a year.

Then wait until those folks file a massive lawsuit.

[TheMadMonk]

12. And they will be able to prove it how?

The basic statistics are that 13% of all deaths are cancer related. 1/30 million added risk translates to about one extra cancer death every 4 years per six billion scans.

Gasoline fumes (more specifically the benzene in it) are more likely to cause cancer (leukemia) (particularly in children) than an Airport X-ray scanner.

[FarCenter]

8. You get more ionizing radiation from flying

At 30,000 feet, you are above 70% of the atmosphere. That means that you are exposed to much more cosmic radiation from space.

[daleo]

9. All the more reason to want to avoid further exposure

If I smoked half a pack a day, it would be fallicious to say a couple more won't really hurt. Dose-response functions are generally linear. The higher up the dose you already are, the greater the chance of harm.

[applegrove]

10. Apparently flying way up in the sky in a plane will garner you more radiation and they have

not found increased cancer rates amongst stewardesses, stewarts or pilots.

[LisaL]

11. Well 20 years from now they might find out

whether there are increased skin cancer rates among those undergoing TSA x-rays screenings. Do you think they know it now?