I'm completely comfortable with people who are concerned about the radiation we are getting from "Back Scatter X-Rays" - but I'm just wondering where they heck they were when trying to protect us from the radiation we get while flying?
If those brief, minimal x-ray scans we get during TSA searches is worth considering, then I wish someone would do something about shielding us while we're flying, and getting a great deal more radiation...
Yes, you are exposed to radiation while flying -- significantly more than when passing through body scanners -- but it's not a risk with no benefit: you're flying. Body scanners, on the other hand, are a risk (I'll grant, a tiny one) with absolutely no reward as they do nothing to actually increase the security of flights.
We take risks every day and that's completely okay as long as the benefits make up for it. I'll take a 0.1% chance of dying for a million dollars, but I won't take it for a sandwich; I'll take a bit of radiation to fly, but not because of a half-assed security mechanism.
It's a classic false dichotomy. Specifically, a person can care about both issues simultaniously.
The problem is that we're not producing the radiation in the air -- it's already there. Radiation shielding is heavy and infeasible for use in current airplane technology. It's a very, very hard problem.
BackScatter scanners, in contrast, are optional. They are completely and utterly unnecessary. It's very easy to get rid of them; indeed it would have been easiest and cheapest to never have forced them upon an an unwilling community of travelers.
And you also expose yourself to dangers of breaking a leg when you go on a hiking adventure. When you drive you also are very vulnerable. Every time you step into the shower you can slip, snap your spine or hit your head and remain paralyzed or dead. But you know what makes those things different than TSA? -- You get something back in return for that risk. You have fun hiking, you get to work faster, you get cleaned so you don't repulse friends and strangers with BO.
But you get _nothing_ back by going through the TSA scanners except getting your cells blasted by energy enough to mutate your DNA. Yes you get the same in flight, but you are getting some place pretty darn fast as a trade-off.
To continue the analogy. Imagine you go through a machine every morning that has a spring loaded hammer when you exit you house to leave. Most of these machine will do nothing to you, but every rarely those machine are known to release their hammer and smash limbs or cause injury otherwise. That is exactly the equivalent of TSA scanners. You get nothing back for the risk of injury.
Great analogy - and I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear that I am in agreement with those who are assessing our risk from TSA backscatter radiation, and trying to do an assessment of the risk/reward function.
What I was trying to (and failed to) do was focus on the fact that I'm getting radiated while flying - and I don't ever recall that being talked about in much detail, and certainly not by any airline staff. For example - do I get more radiation from an open window? Do they make window screens that can block radiation? Is there any research into reducing radiation exposure while flying? In much the same way we take a risk while driving, but now have Air Bags, ABS Breaks, tempered glass, break away wheel columns, etc... - I'm wondering if we're putting the same effort into the radiation risk while flying.
I just never heard much about it until the TSA added the backscatter machines.
If those brief, minimal x-ray scans we get during TSA searches is worth considering, then I wish someone would do something about shielding us while we're flying, and getting a great deal more radiation...