The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is looking for monitor the levels of radiation that its employees are exposed to from X-ray technology, as well as airport body scanners, a document from the agency says.

In the document, the TSA said it plans to begin performing radiation measurements using personal dosimeters, which are devices worn on the body that calculate a person's exposure to radiation, at certain airports. Such devices are used by people who work near sources of radiation such as hospital and nuclear power-plant employees.

"The measurements will assist the TSA in find out if the Transportation Security Officers (TSO) at selected federalized airports are exposed to ionizing radiation above minimum detectable levels, and whether any measured radiation doses approach or exceed the threshold where personnel dosimeter monitoring is necessary by [Department of Homeland Security]/TSA policy," according to the document, which was posted on a government website.

The purpose of the document, called "asking for information," is to discover and collect information on vendors that could supply personal dosimeters to the TSA.
Personal dosimeters measure accurately how much radiation a person receives, so the levels can be compared with the limits set by the government.

Experts today show surprise that such devices, which are needed by law for anyone who works with radiation, were not already used by airport screeners.

"I wouldn’t dream of them not having that already," said Dr. Nagy Elsayyad, a radiation oncologist at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine. "They really should have some form of monitoring tool," Elsayyad said.

"By any possible definition, they are radiation workers," said David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Airport screening and radiation

Some of the airport body scanners, recognized as backscatter scanners, emit X-rays which bounce off the body to create an image. There are about 250 such scanners in use in the United States.

Michael McCarthy, a spokesman for TSA, said personal dosimeters are not at present used by TSA employees because the level of radiation they are exposed to "is well below the minimum threshold where personal dosimeters would be needed."
The actual levels of radiation exposure to airport security workers should be look into, he said. Elsayyad said the plan to start using personal dosimeters should be recommended.

Gray area

The body scanners produce about 0.15 microsieverts of radiation per scan. This dose is equivalent to the radiation a human being would be exposed to in two minutes of flying in an airplane, the TSA said.

The health effects of such small radiation doses are still unsure. "We're sort of in this very big gray area," said Dr. Jacqueline Williams, a radiation expert at the University of Rochester in New York. Though Williams said in a previous interview the effects to an individual passenger are probably negligible.