Hello. I am Dr. Sandra Fryhofer. Welcome to Medicine Matters. The topic: the safety of airport security scanners. Here is why it matters. Airport security is a must for public safety, but are the methods used to scan safe? Could the radiation emitted hurt us? What about privacy issues?
These questions and more were answered in a new report from the AMA Council on Science and Public Health.[1] Exposure to ionizing radiation can damage DNA. Infants are more sensitive to cancer-causing effects of radiation than are adults. For fetuses, radiation exposure in the womb can increase the risk for birth defects. Cancer risk from radiation exposure decreases as we get older, but one should understand that not all scanners are the same.