Airport Body Scanners - SPECS/PDF's

Hi all,

with all the talk of these Airport Scanners and their Privacy Issues, Health Issues Etc, I thought it would be good to provide some technical Info on these devices.

The following brands are mentioned on MSM as being supplied at various Airports around the world today.

Provision Model

Some sites I could not get access to specific details and this was a bit strange as surely we should all have the right to see the full specs of these things.

"ProVision"has been mentioned on FOX and this is a branch of L3 Communications. I could only access so much information here which raised an eyebrow.

rebelmodel.com...

Now, i'm no expert about radiation etc, and I only took 20mins to put this together quickly, so there's much more digging to be done and lots more that can be added here.

No ionizing radiation used

No Ionising Radiation used in the Safety section of this particular Scanner.

This same Scanner is also listed here under L3 Communications, although theres a link on their website that says, "you are not authorised to view this page". This link is here

www.l-3com.com...

Rapiscan WaveScan 200

And for those who are concerned about these machines revealing their entire bodies, I did find this scanner here, which does not reveal all!

although it looks like the TSA are not going with this model, even though it detects almost everything imaginable!

www.rapiscansystems.com...

Anatomical details not revealed thereby reducing personal privacy concerns

Passive system — no transmission of radiation

Provides standoff detection of large explosives, liquids and gels

So why not just go with this model? Makes sense to me.

I'm sure there are other models out there, these were what I could dig up in a short amount of time. Happy Reading.

G.






[edit on 1-1-2010 by grantbeed]

Originally posted by grantbeed
Now, i'm no expert about radiation etc, and I only took 20mins to put this together quickly, so there's much more digging to be done and lots more that can be added here.

No ionizing radiation used

No Ionising Radiation used in the Safety section of this particular Scanner.

Ok but what about non-ionizing radiation? From a recent study:

DNA Breathing Dynamics in the Presence of a Terahertz Field

We consider the influence of a terahertz field on the breathing dynamics of double-stranded DNA. We model the spontaneous formation of spatially localized openings of a damped and driven DNA chain, and find that linear instabilities lead to dynamic dimerization, while true local strand separations require a threshold amplitude mechanism. Based on our results we argue that a specific terahertz radiation exposure may significantly affect the natural dynamics of DNA, and thereby influence intricate molecular processes involved in gene expression and DNA replication.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Good find.

The terahertz region is between the radio frequency region and the optical region generally associated with lasers. Both the IEEE RF safety standard[6] and the ANSI Laser safety standard[7] have limits into the terahertz region, but both safety limits are based on extrapolation. It is expected that effects on tissues are thermal in nature and, therefore, predictable by conventional thermal models. Research is underway to collect data to populate this region of the spectrum and validate safety limits. In October 2009, Technology Review reported a new mechanism of DNA damage from terahertz radiation.

The evidence that terahertz radiation damages biological systems is mixed. "Some studies reported significant genetic damage while others, although similar, showed none," say Boian Alexandrov at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and a few buddies. Now these guys think they know why.

Alexandrov and co have created a model to investigate how THz fields interact with double-stranded DNA and what they've found is remarkable. They say that although the forces generated are tiny, resonant effects allow THz waves to unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication

en.wikipedia.org...


Non-Ionizing Radiation

Non-ionizing radiation is described as a series of energy waves composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields traveling at the speed of light. Non-ionizing radiation includes the spectrum of ultraviolet (UV), visible light, infrared (IR), microwave (MW), radio frequency (RF), and extremely low frequency (ELF). Lasers commonly operate in the UV, visible, and IR frequencies. Non-ionizing radiation is found in a wide range of occupational settings and can pose a considerable health risk to potentially exposed workers if not properly controlled

www.osha.gov...

I think there should be lots more testing done before these things are hastily deployed around the globe.





[edit on 1-1-2010 by grantbeed]