Documents reveal TSA ignored dangers of body scanners
"The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) says that is has official documents that reveal the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) deliberately ignored warnings that airport body scanners pose a health risk.
In its lawsuit against DHS, EPIC obtained documents and emails through the Freedom of Information Act which detail TSA’s internal discussions regarding the radiation risks of full body scanners.
According to EPIC, the documents show that TSA staffers have become increasingly concerned that a large number of workers have develop cancer, strokes, and heart disease after working near the body scanners.
In response to these concerns, TSA told its employees, “Because TSA systems comply with federal regulations, the increased risk of developing radiation-induced cancer in later life is extremely small, no greater than other risks people routinely accept in their daily lives.”
EPIC said, “One document set reveals that even after TSA employees identified cancer clusters possibly linked to radiation exposure, the agency failed to issue employees dosimeters - safety devices that could assess the level of radiation exposure.”
Another set of documents discloses a series of internal email exchanges between DHS and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that indicate NIST was “a little concerned” about DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano’s comments in a USA Today article on 14 November 2010 in which she claimed that NIST had “affirmed the safety” of the airport.
In its email, NIST said that it had not tested the body scanners for safety and that it does not even test products."
"In addition to never having tested the devices, in a separate document, NIST warned that airport screeners should avoid standing near the body scanners to minimize their exposure to harmful radiation."
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