Obama’s TSA Ignored Cancer Risks from TSA Scanners

Ben Johnson, The White House Watch

Last year, this author reported that the TSA had minimized the risk new X-ray scanners posed to travelers. Today, ProPublica has an in-depth article detailing precisely how the government, in a fit of crony capitalism, ran roughshod over public health concerns to place the invasive technology in 250 airports – and cause an estimated six to 100 cases of cancer in travelers each year.

It begins by noting the deception involved in a September 23, 1998, meeting in Maryland to evaluate the Rapiscan Secure 1000 — the “porn scanners” now ubiquitous in American airports manned by the fearless functionaries of the TSA. At the time, there were only 20 such machines in the nation. Its inventor, Steven W. Smith, assured panelists, “I would be extremely surprised in the next five to 10 years if the Secure 1000 is sold” to or used in “lower-security facilities, particularly power plants, embassies, courthouses, airports and governments.” Despite reticence about exposing anyone to ionizing radiation for non-medical reasons, the panel, properly assured, gave its approval. Today, 250 such machines create high-quality naked photos of everyone from newborns to the elderly in airports throughout the Land of the Free.

The TSA began deploying the backscatter technology in 2007, under the Bush administration. But the Obama administration has spent hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing hundreds more.

The scanners were deployed on a mass scale thanks to the Left’s favorite bogeymen: lack of regulatory oversight and crony capitalism.

The only machine used by the TSA is manufactured by Rapiscan. Seeing the incoming Obama administration, the corporation jacked up its lobbying budget from $130,000 in 2006 to nearly $420,000 in 2008 in anticipation of massive government contracts. It steered funds to Democratic Congressmen Bennie Thompson and Jane Harman, both on the House Homeland Security Committee. When the time came, Rapiscan was poised to reap the benefits.

Obama’s big spending “stimulus” dedicated $300 million to procuring airport security scanners. Rapiscan pocketed $173 million of that and is the government’s exclusive vendor of this kind of machine.

Their production moves forward despite warnings the government has not properly tested their safety. Since these are not medical x-ray machines, the FDA cannot set their safety standards. ProPublica adds:

As for the TSA, it skipped a public comment period required before deploying the scanners. Then, in defending them, it relied on a small body of unpublished research to insist the machines were safe, and ignored contrary opinions from U.S. and European authorities that recommended precautions, especially for pregnant women. Finally, the manufacturer, Rapiscan Systems, unleashed an intense and sophisticated lobbying campaign, ultimately winning large contracts.

Both the FDA and TSA say due diligence has been done to assure the scanners’ safety.

Scientific experts beg to differ. Arizona State University physics professor Peter Rez and health physics professor Ken Mossman evaluated the technology in the November 9, 2010, issue of the Radiation Protection and Dosimetry. Unlike the analysis the TSA cites to prove any cancer risk is “tiny” and “miniscule,” this journal is peer-reviewed. According to Rez’s figures, between one and three Americans each year will develop cancer thanks to exposure to these machines.

Since last year, the experts’ estimates of needless deaths have increased….

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