Airport scanners cause cancer. Scanner at the airport - dangerous or not

Perhaps many are interested in the question of how luggage is checked at the airport. The fact is that over the past decade, the rules for screening luggage have changed significantly. The list of items that a passenger can take on board an aircraft has also changed. It is noteworthy that border guards, airport security and the crew on the airliner can inspect the personal belongings of any passenger. Note that everyone who wants to fly by plane must pass:

• initial inspection;
• secondary inspection.

There may also be an additional inspection, already on board the airliner.

So, many people are interested in the question: how and with what do luggage at the airport shine through. Let's consider everything in order. The first baggage screening at the airport takes place immediately after entering the building. At this stage, employees check hand luggage using a special device and a luggage belt. Note that at any time, employees can ask to open the bags and show something that seems suspicious to them. It is noteworthy that during inspection, employees do not pay attention, for example, to the fact that the bag is wrapped with plastic tape etc. Accordingly, if any questions arise, you will have to unpack everything. Otherwise, the passenger simply will not go to the airport.

The second screening is already inside the building. Here you have to go through the frame of a metal detector or a similar device. Before undergoing this examination, be sure to remove all metal objects, such as watches, and put them in a special plastic box. Note that the luggage check at the airport will also be carried out separately and only after that it will be given to the owner. If a passenger suddenly finds any liquid larger than 100 ml or any piercing and cutting objects, it will be possible to transfer them to the baggage. Otherwise, they will be asked to be thrown out.

Note that, if the metal detector reacts to a person, it will be checked using a special hand-held scanner. Further, upon re-examination and the discovery of something, you will be asked to present a metal object. Of course, this does not apply to metal plates or pins that were sewn during the operation.

After successfully passing the metal detector, passengers hand over all hand luggage and go through passport control. Many large airports have a special human body scanner that shows a detailed picture. There are such devices, for example, in Domodedovo. In order to pass such a scanner at the airport, all people even have to take off their shoes and put on shoe covers.

If at the first inspection a person can still keep, for example, a bottle of water or juice, arguing that before landing he will drink everything and throw it away, then when viewed directly in front of the plane all prohibited items will be thrown into the trash.

That is why be extremely careful, as all sorts of small things can accidentally fall under the lining of bags, etc. It is recommended to carry out a very thorough check. Do not forget that liquids include various creams, shampoos, toothpastes, etc. Accordingly, they are forbidden to be carried on an airplane.

Illuminated luggage

The principle of operation of the scanner at the airport

In recent years, almost all major airports have taken care of security and installed special scanners, which are divided into 2 types: metal detectors and devices that create a three-dimensional image of a scanned person. Accordingly, the second option is much more efficient and effective for detecting illegal objects, since such an X-ray at the airport displays an image very similar to a naked body. However, do not worry, the security service at the airport responsibly declares that anonymity for all passengers is fully ensured, since the operator of the device does not see the face. In addition, the pictures are immediately deleted.

How does an X-ray work at an airport?

These devices are based on 2 different operating principles. In the first case, the rays do not pass through, but are reflected. Accordingly, different materials are indicated by different colors, depending on the density. For example, muscles and skin are lighter, while something denser is darker. To get the finished image on the monitor, the operator needs to take 2 photos: one from the front and one from the back.

In the second case, millimeter waves are used. They are emitted by 2 rotating antennas. It is worth noting that any clothing is completely transparent for such a device. The picture is clear and detailed. Such an image looks much more realistic, unlike an x-ray scanner.

How to distinguish scanners?

If someone wants to know how to distinguish between scanners, then this is very simple. The metal detector looks like the letter "P", you just need to go through it. In turn, the body scanner looks like 2 booths. A person should stand between them and stand for a few seconds.

What is the effect of such a procedure?

The creators of the two types of scanners claim that they are completely safe for both humans and things. For example, a microwave device is compared to radiation received from a mobile phone after 5 minutes of talking, and X-ray radiation, as after 2 minutes. But despite such assurances, the latter device is used very rarely at airports. In addition, children and pregnant women are not carried through it.

Note that global research on the impact of such technology on the human body a, as well as various equipment, medications, etc. not carried out.

Checking in an airliner

As already described above, there is a possibility that the captain of the aircraft may carry out the check. Note that after takeoff, slightly different rules apply on board, which are determined directly by the aircraft commander. If a passenger is suspected of something, the captain has the right to inspect his things and even arrest him. Often this is due to inappropriate behavior and happens very rarely.

How were the security changes implemented?

The first major rule change came into effect in America in the early 2000s. At airports, they begin to ensure that passengers do not carry various stab-cutting objects onto the plane. First of all, small clerical and penknives became illegal. The cockpit was also reinforced. Also, matches and lighters were now required to be sent in luggage.

Further, in 2003, ICAO decides to introduce electronic passports in all countries. First of all, this was done so that at passport control all passenger data could be read immediately, and not entered manually.

The following year, foreigners are being fingerprinted in America. In 2006, it is forbidden to carry liquids, gels and aerosols on board an airliner. Even New Year's balls and bottles of milk for babies were banned. However, later they are still allowed to carry liquid up to 100 ml. Also this year, a separate inspection of all electronic devices is introduced.

In 2007, all states began to officially exchange information about passengers. Also in some places there was a pre-flight screening with cynologists. In 2011, after the tragedy at Domodedovo, at the entrance to the airport building, absolutely all passengers are thoroughly examined, and hand luggage passes through an introscope. In addition, an experienced psychologist monitors everything.

In contact with

Scanning all passengers and luggage at the airport has become a common practice in recent years. Arriving at the airport terminal, travelers already know that they will have a verification procedure. With a large amount of luggage, this necessary step is often time consuming and requires enormous patience.

Passengers do not always show this very patience while waiting in line and during inspection, these control procedures seem meaningless and unsafe for health, especially with regard to the scanner. Let's take a closer look at how the scanner works.

On-Run Audit Scan Service

Scanner at the airport: appointment

The scanner at the airport is a way of objective prevention of violations and the ability to ensure flight safety for everyone on board and in the building. In today's conditions of the widespread threat of terrorism, there is always a risk of an extreme situation.

How scanners work at the airport, what the device shows

The principle is very simple. You need to double check. Already at the entrance to the terminal building, everyone is forced to put the bags on the tape, which delivers the luggage to the camera, which shines through the contents. This is the initial stage. Then, after check-in for the flight, to go to the departure area, everyone undergoes a second check, more detailed, at the time of customs clearance.

Important! The scanner checks the baggage and the passengers themselves for the presence of prohibited items and substances.

X-rays at the airport are safe, except for pregnant women and the disabled, who have a built-in heart pacemaker. They are allowed to bypass the procedure. However, if the girl's pregnancy looks unnatural or suspicious, she may be taken behind a screen to make sure that there are no violations.

Scanning in the customs control area

A human scanner at the airport is mandatory for all other categories of citizens, including children. Harm to health in this case is excluded, because the action of the beam lasts one instant.

X-ray work in the mode of personal inspection

Note! The first thing to emphasize regarding the operation of a microwave device that checks luggage and people is that it is absolutely safe for health and property.

How does an X-ray shine through at the airport? The rays completely cross the body of the passenger. In this case, it is often necessary to stand on a special platform and raise your hands, placing them on special circles on a glass panel. This allows you to perform a better and faster check.

The main requirement when passing through a personal inspection at the airport is the absence of metal and too dense objects on the body. An employee may ask to remove bracelets and watches, sometimes you need to remove metal earrings and rings, chains, if they are massive enough.

Note! In the criminal world, they try to deceive the system. Drugs can be transported by placing a bag of powder or herbal material in the rectum. Sometimes prohibited items are swallowed. In the vast majority of cases, these violations are detected, the offender is arrested.

For additional security, an operative with a dog can be on duty in the hall.

For decent citizens, the verification process does not pose any threat. A person who is offered to take off his jacket, belt or jewelry must calmly obey and comply with this request, show the requested part of the body or luggage.

Personal Scanner Check

During the check, there is no personal manifestation of dislike or threat in each requirement. Checks all people going to the flight, the screening inspector at the airport, and this is also the daily duty of the security guards. However, each passenger has the opportunity to demand that their rights be respected. If the passenger believes that the screening is carried out in a too harsh manner, accompanied by rudeness, there is a risk to health during the use of the scanner, you can safely contact the police or the administration.

List of prohibited items

Screening of passengers at the airport is carried out in connection with certain security requirements. Among them are the following prohibitions:

• transportation of liquids in vessels with a capacity of more than 100 ml;
• flammable liquids, varnishes, paints, sprays and gas cartridges;
• a complete ban on the transport of weapons and piercing objects, scissors, knives, edged weapons, large manicure devices;
• drugs, alcohol;
• transportation of animals hidden in luggage;
• explosive and various military devices.

Personal searches are also carried out for the transportation of similar objects and other things that citizens try to hide on the body or under clothing.

Important! The examination is carried out according to the man / man, woman / woman system, that is, women are checked by a female employee, which reduces the likelihood of conflict during the procedure.

This is how the security system works everywhere, regardless of whether it is Moscow, Ufa or California.

The human body and personal luggage under x-ray lumen

If the security considered some things to be confiscated, this issue must be discussed with the airport administration. If this is not done, the large container, transported alcohol or other prohibited items will be seized and disposed of.

Is it possible to fool the scanner

Any technical device is imperfect. Of course, even with a very strict system of control and total searches, there is always the possibility that someone will be able to carry a liquid or other prohibited item in a bag. How is this possible?

Note! This paragraph of the article is not an instruction on how to violate the instructions of the airport security service. The article informs about cases when failures in the operation of scanning tools are possible and explains their possible causes.

• Poor readability of the subject.

Despite the possibilities of x-rays, sometimes it does not work. For example, if an item is wrapped in foil, it blocks x-rays. Such an object is highlighted in dark color on the controller screen. If the employee simply does not pay attention to this fact and lets the violator pass, then the object will be carried onto the plane. Obviously, this moment is very dangerous, so the security officers make sure that there is nothing prohibited in the suitcase. In this case, they are often asked to open the bag and demonstrate what exactly lies in this place.

• Too much stuff.

Layered luggage bags can make it difficult to see a dangerous object. This leads to the fact that the passenger calmly carries with him a large container of liquid, shampoo or drink. Often the controller does not see that such an object is in the bag if his attention switches to another, more noticeable and voluminous object.

• Human factor.

If employees are distracted by something, the check on the tape is suspended. But in the general turmoil, there may be a moment when an unscrupulous passenger or intruder successfully carries a dangerous cargo. If someone became an eyewitness to this incident, it must be reported to the security service.

For many years, metal detectors have been used at airports to detect concealed weapons on passengers. This easy-to-use device was safe, but had one serious drawback: it could not detect non-metallic objects that posed a threat. Therefore, now screening at airports is carried out using other technologies.

x-ray scanner

A backscatter X-ray scanner shows a complete image of a person's body. There are disputes between experts about the safety of using this scanner.

There is an opinion that X-ray scanners may be a source of a dangerous dose. "Through this device, a person is exposed to radiation equal to about 10% of what he receives during a chest x-ray," - says John Sedat (John Sedat), professor of biophysics at the University of California.

David Brenner, professor of biophysical radiology at Columbia University Medical Center, confirms: "There is a very small risk that exposure to x-rays can cause cancer."

The European authorities almost immediately after the introduction of the technology banned Europe Bans Airport X-Ray Scanners that U.S. Still uses. use of X-ray scanners at airports. Then other countries followed suit. However, in some places they are still used.

microwave scanner

A microwave scanner receives an image using radio waves. In this scanner, you need to stand without shoes and with your hands raised behind your head. Experts say that such devices are safe for human health.

Andrew Maidment, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania, explains that devices that emit radio waves are only harmful when they cause molecular changes. The microwave scanner at the airport, fortunately, is not capable of this.

“I participated in a study that tested the effect of exposure from this scanner on pregnant women, potentially pregnant women and newborns. And I can confidently say that it is safe. I am not afraid for myself, my wife and children when we go through this scanner,” Maidment says.

Even if you fly on airplanes very often, you receive a tiny dose of radiation that will not harm your health.

Doctors are sounding the alarm - after the recent terrorist attacks at airports, they want to install x-ray scanners that can cause cancer. There is talk of installing devices for covert screening even in the Moscow metro. Is it worth it to refuse to pass through when you next fly to rest on the sea and is it possible to do this?

At the beginning of March 2011, Rospotrebnadzor issued an official statement: installations for X-ray scanning of people at airports are dangerous. Chief Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation Gennady Onishchenko believes that X-ray scanners can lead to radiation and oncological diseases.

Modern research confirms the fears of doctors. UC San Francisco biochemist and biophysicist David Agard argues that any dose of x-ray radiation, even the smallest, is harmful. He believes that X-rays cause chromosomal rearrangements that provoke the growth of cancer cells. The installation of such devices at airports will lead to an increase in the incidence of melanoma and breast cancer.

Whoat risk?

X-rays are most dangerous for pregnant women. If exposed to radiation in the womb, in the future it threatens the risk of developing cancerous tumors and leukemia. David Brenner, head of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University, adds that 5% of the population is genetically sensitive to radiation. These people have an increased risk of developing basal cell skin cancer.

Separately, it should be said about people who, on duty, are forced to constantly be in the air. Pilots and flight attendants go through x-rays about 400 times a year. These figures for "business travelers": journalists, businessmen and diplomats are about two times lower. Add the cosmic radiation that passengers are exposed to while flying at a cruising altitude of 10 km. The farther a person is from the surface of the planet, the more he is irradiated.

In fact, we can all be at risk at any moment: sophisticated equipment can simply fail, and then any passenger will receive a serious dose of radiation. Yes, and serviceable is a dangerous thing: manufacturers underestimate dangerous indicators in order to obtain a safety certificate.

How it works?

X-ray operates on the principle of backscattering, when two extremely weak X-ray beams form a two-dimensional image on the screen. The Food and Drug Administration (USA) assures that the devices are absolutely safe for all passengers, including the elderly, children and people with implants. According to the specialists of the Office, a person needs to go through more than 1000 times a year, and only after that it can be said that the exposure standards have been exceeded.

There is a safer alternative to the X-ray scanner, the microwave. The car directs a beam at the passenger and then analyzes the reflected signal. However, the installation sparked many protests. The device allegedly shines through clothes, allowing you to literally "look under the skirt."

What to do?

At Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, X-ray scanners are used only for baggage screening. Passengers pass through rapiscans, the radiation of which is 1000 times weaker than that of mobile phones.

However, you can choose not to pass through any device. The security officer will then conduct a search in the security room. In this case, the passenger will be searched by a woman, and the passenger by a man.

Oleg Polyakov, Deputy Chief Physician of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, comments on the situation: “X-ray is a serious examination. For each patient, his own dose is calculated, taking into account the weight and age of the patient, the location of the organ that needs to be examined. All radiation is recorded, the annual dose of radiation is calculated. It is hard to imagine what will happen to people who are forced to fly frequently for work. But there are still people with thyroid diseases, oncology, those who have recently done fluorography. Irradiation does not go away on its own, it accumulates. If X-ray machines are installed on vehicles, who will monitor the radiation doses for each individual?”

Numbers

• The maximum permissible background for life is 5 mSv per year (millisievert)
• Tooth snapshot - 1 µSv
• Inspection using the SibScan microdose X-ray system installed at Pulkovo and Domodedovo airports - 0.5 μSv
• Irradiation during the flight Moscow - Bangkok - 45 μSv
• Exposure during the flight Moscow - Sharm el-Sheikh - 30 μSv
• Exposure during the flight from Singapore to New York - 90 μSv
• Film fluorography (outdated technology, being replaced by digital) - 500-800 µSv
• Digital fluorography - 60 μSv
• The lethal dose of radiation is just under 1 sievert.

Traveling by plane is exciting in itself, and pre-flight procedures make you tremble even more, becoming more complicated every year. For the safety of passengers, more and more new requirements are being introduced, and even the most inveterate tourists risk getting stuck in the control zone due to the fact that something from the updated list of prohibited items got into hand luggage.

For example, in the summer of 2017, the US Transportation Security Administration approved new rules regarding the transport of electronic devices larger than a mobile phone (including tablets and laptops). Now they need to be placed in a separate tray for translucence in the X-ray machine: and all because of the terrorists who contrive to hide explosives in computers.

It is very unpleasant, hurrying to the flight, to undergo additional checks and, moreover, to lose the necessary things if among them something was not liked by the employees of the airport's ground services.

Of course, there is no time to study long lists of items prohibited on board, so what can you do to quickly and easily pass the control zone?

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General advice: dress appropriately. Avoid belts and layered clothing, minimize jewelry, empty inside pockets. In general, try to take as few things as possible with you to the cabin in order to negate the risk of carrying something unacceptable.

To help you get through airport security like clockwork, we've put together a list of items to check in or not take on a flight, and some practical tips.

1. Lighter: one is enough, the extra ones will certainly be taken away. And this one, the only one, cannot be taken on an airplane.
2. Place mobile phones and other electronics on a separate tray. Do not overwhelm them with things so as not to arouse suspicion, and, accordingly, the desire to closely inspect your gadgets.
3. Syringes. They will only be allowed in together with drugs for injection, if, in addition, you have declared them and justified the need to carry them with you.
4. Cast iron cookware, unlike light pots and pans, must be checked in as checked baggage.
5. Mixers and blenders: only without knives. All sharp objects must be handed over.
6. Liquids: their allowed volume is usually no more than a small tube. And it is better not to carry pasta and cream in your hand luggage.
7. Books and magazines. It is not forbidden to take them with you, but it is better to take the publications out of the bag so that they can be easily presented to an officer who wants to make sure that the content is permissible.
8. Water pistols and foam swords, as well as any children's toys and imitations of real weapons, are prohibited. Explanations are superfluous here.
9. A fortune-telling magic ball will not be allowed in hand luggage. Probably, so that you don’t have a line of people who want to tell fortunes.
10. Ice cream. This, of course, is a joke, but they really won’t let you in with him.