Nothing To Declare

[Bazile]

Those full body xray scanners they use at airports

How much xray radiation is used
Per scan ?

[237SJ]

Most of the ones in use are metal detectors, not x rays.

[Mamyalynne]

Oldish article but I imagine the figures are about right,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13990434

[Mamyalynne]

Maybe those were an old type then,,sorry.

[Buenchico]

See '1.2. Radiation safety', here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687850714000168

[jourdain2]

That's a relief 237SJ because I always have to go through the scanners at least twice (2 artificial hips). I always tell staff before I go through the first time, but they still have to check me and make me do it again. Better safe than sorry from their point of view, but I'm glad it's not X-rays!

[237SJ]

If you mean the modern ones, I don't think there is much of a risk for passengers but airline crews are exempt from going through them due to accumulated radiation risk from flying.

[Bazile]

The ones I'm talking about are the ones which suspected drug swallowers go through in order to ascertain whether or not they have drugs concealed inside them

[Samuraisan]

Well if they have swallowed goodness know how many packets of drugs radiation won't worry them too much.

[douglas9401]

No more than is needed to get a clear image, a small cupful say.

[Bazile]

Samuraison

Well obviously not , plainly

However if you are made to go through the scanner , ( as was the case for several people in the above programme )
when you have not swallowed anything and are innocent of any drug smuggling ; then you might have cause to be concerned .

Douglas
What does a small cupful equate to in terms of radiation ?

In any event , I was just curious

[Peter Pedant]

they dont apparently

https://www.quora.com/How-does-airport-security-distinguish-drugs-from-mints-in-a-scan

going out the airports are not bovvered about drugs altho the receiving country may be. Departure police arent that excited either

For mules or carriers or whatever entering, I thought they locked them up until they went to the bog. Bog outlet clearly not directly linked to the Thames

now, if you read the article Baz - watch out ! VLWI technology used.
( very long words indeed) -
MRI is magnetic ( that is what the M is for) - it used to be NMR ( nucular magnetic ) but a few with secondary school education thought the N meant radioactive.....

chest x raY is about 0.1 mS and a cat-scan around 7-10 - which is a hundred CXRs. Hiroshima - they dont know - the average was as low as 0.3 mS ( peanuts). They found the very 1945 neutron flux dosimeter a few years ago and there a was comment: this wouldnt have measured diddly squat.

Baths and I - sorry too literary - me n Baffs - would have received around 40G radiotherapy for treatment and that comes out to about 500 chest x rays - erm fractionated over a week - sorry in little bits over a week

[douglas9401]

It equates to a non-specific answer to a question that you plucked out of the air without any way of measuring the accuracy of any replies received.

If I was to say that modern machines expose one to less than a tenth of a microsievert would that help?
The same source notes that this is less than you would get from eating a banana.

The cup's not looking so daft now eh? :)

[Peter Pedant]

// Douglas .. What does a small cupful equate to in terms of radiation ? //

yeah ! Foooooo!
well none I think - you get more rads from flying at a height

( i thought it was rather poetic DOug...)

[237SJ]

If you google transmission x ray machines (which are the type that Customs use) you should find the microsieverts

[Peter Pedant]

Hi Doug - I think it is a milli-sievert

isnt it the amount of heating in J (Joolz that is - yup as in Holland) in one kg of tissue. You zap it wivva multiplier (Q) n get Grays, just in case anyone noticed I referred to my own radiation dose as G and not S

[ the multiplier ( Q that is!) takes into account radiation which has the same heating effect may be more zappo-genic ]

so it is All Very Scientific until the very end step when the scientist in da orange glow suit and half moon glasses says - "oh why dont we bring it into the real world by multiplying by two or three ?" ( yeah Q again ) - "toowa free" I mean - damn I am never gonna get this damned Essex accent right

[Peter Pedant]

micrsieverts ?
so I got 40 million times the CXR dose into my rt orbit ?
are you sure about that ?
[I kinda feel OK]

[Bathsheba]

Lol PP!! I often think of that...blasted 5 days a week for 5 weeks??

Baths
x x x

[Bathsheba]

And yet as I have an extremely painful strained muscle due to a fall, I was disappointed they didn't give me an Xray. Man, it hurts :(

Baths
x x

[Peter Pedant]

oh I think mine was 5 days gap then another 5 days

They nailed my head to the floor to keep me from moving
200 breaths at a normal breathing quiet rate.....

the waiting room was fun - we all got to know each other