United kingdom Daily news: 'Naked' body scanners ARE safe, rules EU report into airport security technology

Jumat, 04 Mei 2012

'Naked' body scanners ARE safe, rules EU report into airport security technology

'Naked' body scanners ARE safe, rules EU report into airport security technology

By Travelmail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 08:47 EST, 4 May 2012 | UPDATED: 08:47 EST, 4 May 2012

Controversial 'naked' body scanners could be rolled out to UK airports and the Continent after experts declared them safe to use.

The European Commission stopped new trials of the device last November over fears they could emit harmful levels of cancer-causing radiation.

American academic Dr David Brenner said he believed the scanner could deliver up to 20 times more radiation to the skin than previously thought - potentially increasing the risk of skin cancer.

Security: The scanners enable officers viewing the image to look for any concealed items

The EC allowed Manchester Airport to continue trialling the scanners - the only airport in Europe to do so - pending the outcome of an independent study into the potential risks.

Airport bosses now believe the devices - also known as 'back scatters' - will be approved by the EC for permanent use.

The scanner employs ionising radiation to produce a 'naked' outline image of the person being scanned.

Staff analysing the images must be in a separate room and are unable to see the passenger, while travellers who refuse to go through are stopped from flying.

A Security officer poses for photographers in the body scanner at Manchester Airport

Technology: The European Commission permitted Manchester Airport to continue trialling the scanners

The report from the EC's Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) examined the health effect of back scatter body scanners and transmission scanners which use a higher dose of radiation.

Manchester Airport only uses the former.

The report said: 'In view of the low doses from back scatter security scanners there is no scientific basis to separately consider potentially vulnerable groups, eg, pregnant women, children, in risk assessment.

'Cumulative doses are very likely to remain below the constraints with back scatter scanners even for frequently scanned individuals.'

The study said that the radiation doses were 'very low' compared with other sources such as cosmic radiation received during the flight. And it moved to reassure frequent flyers.

Private: Staff looking at the images must be in a separate room

But it did add that the long-term effects, such as cancer risks, could not be 'entirely excluded'.

'If such risks exist, they are orders of magnitude below the baseline (spontaneous) cancer risk due to other factors,' the report said.

The report concluded that 'there is no risk of deterministic effects (tissue reactions) associated with normal use of X-ray based security scanners at airports, because the doses delivered are, in any scenario, much lower than any known threshold above which deterministic health effects would occur.'

A spokesman for Manchester Airport commented: 'We expect that the European Commission will now approve back scatter technology for permanent deployment in aviation security. In the meantime, we will continue with our trial of back scatter body scanners.'

The European Commission now has to decide whether to allow Manchester and other European airports to use the scanners on a permanent basis rather than as part of a trial.