Frequent Flyer Concerns

A post by Blanche Scharf http://www.yourhealthupdates.com I have been studying natural healing modalities for the last 25 years. In that time I have had the privilege of working with some of the greatest minds in Natural Healing including Naturopaths, Scientists, and Energy Healers. I have seen people miraculously heal from all kinds of dis-ease thru non-invasive methods. Personally, I have experienced all kinds of diets from Macrobiotics to Raw Foods. Now is a very important time to start sharing this health information with as many people as possible, so people can make well informed decisions about their health and not fall victim to a sickcare system based on profit, rather than one of supporting wholeness, compassion and love To see more posts by Blanche Scharf, click here

Frequent flyers concerns are about more than the weather, long lines, delayed flights, and cabin air quality. Thanks to modern technology the use of x-ray body scanners are sure to trouble those that want to avoid radiation.

Backscatter Scanners

The “backscatter Scanners,” deliver a dose of ionizing radiation equivalent to 1 percent or less than a dental x-ray delivers. How to handle the news is from the perspective of the person that is a frequent flyer. Right now the country is on auto-pilot.

Most people want to avoid stalling at the security line. Navigating through all the stops in the least amount of time seems to be the bigger concern. Congress has released the funds for 450 backscatter scanners to be placed in airports across the country. Some other countries may follow our lead.

Britain plans to use whole-body scanners and may test the backscatter system. The French government said it would test a few of the millimeter type scanners. Italy and the Netherlands plan to use just the millimeter-wave scanners.

Millimeter Wave Scanners

These are full-body scanners that are already in some airports. They are less powerful, non-ionizing radiation that does not have the same risks. The images are often less clear and with the fear factor in place the country is going to look at which offers the higher degree of protection.

Safety

Safety is the primary concern; the backscatter scanners will probably be a double edged sword. Sometimes something is judged after it is used for enough time for all the flaws to show.

We need to be obsessed with safety from all angles. The aftermath of prolonged usage may be excess cases of cancer. By not using robust detection in the age of global terror, it can be devastating. What you should expect is ways to not only minimize exposure, but newer technology with fewer risks.

In a 2002 report on the safety of backscatter scanners, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, who influences the setting of regulatory standards made a statement that is alarming. It said it “cannot exclude the possibility of a fatal cancer attributed to radiation in a very large population of people exposed to very low doses of radiation.”

David J. Brenner, one of the authors and a professor of radiation biophysics at Columbia and director of the university’s Center for Radiological Research said the risk may be increased by using these machines as a first-line screening system.

The Real Question

As we move in the direction of more and more scanning from Cat Scans, Mammograms, and other imaging devices are we moving up to being one x-ray away from  becoming a statistic.

All the radiation exposure would add a small increment over the existing cancer rate, and may indistinguishable from the overall rate. But most people would like to avoid all unnecessary risks.

There is no way to assess the probability of who suffered damage going through an airport scanner. The indication is that there will not be a significant increase in cancer rates, but there will unfortunately be collateral damage to cells. Air frequent flyer health concerns should revolve around this issue.

The Real Answer

Edward Lyman, a nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that “just because they can’t be attributed in an epidemiology study to the additional radiation, it doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

Backscatter scanners work by shooting a beam of x-rays at a person. Rather than forming an image that passes through the body like a doctor’s diagnostic x-ray machine does. It measures what bounces back. This has been the topic of discussion, because it is an image of the passenger without clothing. This may not be a pretty picture, but the issue has to be about the radiation.

The x-rays are a form of ionizing radiation, that is, radiation powerful enough to strip molecules in the body of their electrons, creating charged particles that cause cell damage and are most likely the mechanism that causes cancer.

This is the stripping that you don’t want to do. This goes beyond cosmetic, and into the realm of invasive, no amount of clothes can cover you. Your cells are what you depend on for all functions. Probably no one will emerge unscathed, even with no obvious repercussions.

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• Medical Testing
• Americans Get Radiated