U.S.News & World Report Tumblelog

In a pair of competing articles in the April issue of Radiology, radiation experts David J. Brenner and David A. Schauer debate the benefits and potential hazards posed by backscatter X-ray scanners, which are used to screen up to a billion travelers annually at airport security checkpoints in the United States.

Another type of scanner, which uses millimeter wave technology, does not emit ionizing radiation and has no proven health effects, which Brenner and Schauer agree is the ideal. But U.S. airports use a mix of both scanner types, with the only alternative being the controversial full-body pat-down.

Don’t overreact. For most airline passengers, nothing will be different about airport security this winter. The new procedures are applied randomly, and they’re not in effect at all airports. So the majority of passengers will experience the same old snaking line that leads to a metal detector, an X-ray machine for carry-ons, and an airplane somewhere on the other side.