Doses to the scanned individual and to the operator from an X-ray body scanner system

Abstract

The X-ray body scanner (BS) is going to find common use as a body-checking equipment at the entrance borders of countries, to find illicit drugs or forbidden items which have been hidden inside the body cavities, or attached to the body parts of the passengers. Considering the tissue weighting factors of the sensitive organs, the total effective dose due to the scanning by the system was estimated to be 3.8 µSv per scan. The ambient dose equivalent rates within the distance range of 300-40 cm from the X-ray generator were measured to be 4.5 up to 50 µSv h(-1). It is concluded that, in general, BS systems could be a safe device for the operators and people who are being scanned. But using such systems should be justified for everybody and special care should be taken for children and pregnant ladies.

Imaging Technologies in Aviation Security

“…As seen from the above discussion, one of the main concerns to people is privacy; the second concern is the radiation. However non-ionizing systems are no risk to passengers; in addition, the ionizing X-ray body scanners used for people in airports are also safe, but extra care has to be taken when children and pregnant women are scanned [16], [13]. Privacy concerns have been initiated and argued by the public and European Union since the first generation of X-ray systems, which show the full image of the person being scanned and interpreted by the screener.…”