Newly released internal government documents (obtained via the Freedom Of Information Act) reveal that the TSA, and specifically the head of the Department of Homeland Security, “publicly mischaracterized” the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in stating that NIST had positively confirmed the safety of full body scanners in tests.
Newly disclosed email correspondence shows that NIST notified the TSA that the Institute had not, in fact, tested full body scanners for safety-- that in fact, the Institute does not even undertake product testing.
Other documentation shows that, far from affirming their safety, NIST warned that airport screeners should avoid standing next to full body scanners in order to keep exposure to harmful radiation “as low as reasonably achievable.”
According to other documents, a growing number of TSA workers diagnosed with cancers are voicing concern that the full body scanners and x-ray machines are indeed to blame for their illnesses. These same documents highlight the fact that the TSA has failed to issue employees with dosimeters, safety devices that would warn of radiation exposure, despite repeated requests from workers and their supervisors.
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