Flying and TSA - Body Scan or Pat down for Kids?

Hi Krista,

I think the latest on the radiation level is that it's equal to the same amount you would get if your flight was extended by 3 minutes at 30,000 feet.

I work with CT scans every day and basically the whole radiation thing is soooooooo blown out of proportion and misinformation is everywhere. Unless you are currently getting CT scans at least 4 times a year (ie if you are a cancer patient and/or have health issues) you don't really need to worry about radiation exposure from other sources.

I'm not sure most people know you are exposed to radiation every day if you are in the sun. Also, the airport scanners are not even the level of radiation of a dental xray.

Here is a link to an msnbc article that states "You would have to go through scanners more than 1,000 times in one year to even meet the maximum recommended level — and even pilots don't do that".
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40259853/ns/travel-news

I will do the airport scanner. I don't ever get CT scans and I get a dental xray once every 2 or 3 years. I fly 5 or 6 times each year.

Make the choice that is best for you - good luck!

I fly every week and only one of the airports I fly through has a body scanner, BWI, and not everyone goes through it, most still go through the good ol' fashioned metal detectors. If you should go through a body scanner they have changed up the procedure so that the pictures are seen only in a closed off room and then the person leading you through the scanner is told by radio to let you go. The TSA agent you see and sees you physically is not the same one that sees the images and the agent that sees the images does not see you physically. Before this change in procedure the images were displayed out in the open to anyone to anyone walking by the monitor. I have also been subject to a pat down after the scanner detected something not right, the initial pat down was not a big deal, the agent was doing his job and was very professional, after I failed that pat down, they ran the detection pad on the wrong machine, I was subject to an even more vigorous pat down in a closed off room. Once again not a big deal.
Folks are making way to big a deal out of these procedures than is necessary. It is a hot topic in the media and the general public wants their five minutes of fame. They act like fools, get the attention their actions draw, and then want to get even more attention by acting an even bigger fool in the media. The guy threatening to have the TSA agent arrested for touching his "junk" is the perfect example, there is no reason to act a fool in the security line. If you do your job as a traveler, they will do theirs as an agent for your protection, and everything will be fine.
One of the other answers is also correct, based on the age of your children they should not have to worry about a pat down. Nor should you, the odds of ending up in a pat down situation are miniscule to begin with, and even less so if you simply listen to what they tell you, and prepare ahead of time for security. Enjoy your trip and safe travels to you and your family.

The scanner is actually pretty easy to do with kids. I've done it with my 2 &4 yos and they did just fine. There are feet marks so the kids will know where to stand and you just explain to them ahead of time to watch the person in front of them, don't touch with walls and put their feet in the right spots. TSA agents are pretty understanding with kids. It only takes a minute and it's not any more difficult than explaining about why we take off our shoes and have to put our blankies through to be scanned. GL!

We just flew last week. Our children went through the scanners but were not patted down. I would rather have them scanned then patted because the children will not realize how invasive the scanners are but will definitely recognize how invasive the pat down is. I don't want other people touching my children though it may happen anyway.

I know this is a little late, but being in the health field, as much as I don't want to be patted down, I don't feel like it is safe to be radiated.

The Interagency Committee on Radiation Safety issued an internal report to groups including the European Commission, International Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Energy Agency and the World Health Organization warning that pregnant women and children should never be exposed to the devices.

A new analysis of the radiation dose delivered by the machines, conducted by David Brenner and colleagues at Columbia University, found that because the beams concentrate X-rays on the body's skin, the effective dose may be 20 times higher than previously estimated.

Because the skin is one of the body's most radiation-sensitive organs, the scanners significantly increase the risk that passengers will develop basal cell carcinoma, a kind of skin cancer. Children and the 5 percent of adult passengers with certain relatively common gene mutations are at significantly higher risk due to their reduced ability to repair DNA damage. The thyroid also lies just under the skin in the neck putting it at risk too.

Here are some excerpts taken from a letter written by Drs John Sedat Ph.D., David Agard, Ph.D., Marc Shuman, M.D., Robert Stroud, Ph.D., all from the University of California.

Here is their background as described in the letter:

Dr. Sedat is a Professor Emeritus in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, with expertise in imaging. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The other cosigners include Dr Marc Shuman, and internationally well known and respected cancer expert and UCSF professor, as well as Drs David Agard and Robert Stroud, who are UCSF Professors, X-ray crystallographers, imaging experts and NAS members.

"We are writing to call your attention to serious concerns about the potential health risks of the recently adopted whole body backscatter X-ray airport security scanners. This is an urgent situation as these X-ray scanners are rapidly being implemented as a primary screening step for all air travel passengers."

"Our overriding concern is the extent to which the safety of this scanning device hasbeen adequately demonstrated. This can only be determined by a meeting of an impartial panel of experts that would include medical physicists and radiation biologists at which all of the available relevant data is reviewed."

"The physics of these X-rays is very telling: the X-rays are Compton-Scattering off outer molecule bonding electrons and thus inelastic (likely breaking bonds)."

(Translation: The ionizing radiation emitted by these devices can alter your DNA.)

"Unlike other scanners, these new devices operate at relatively low beam energies (28keV). The majority of their energy is delivered to the skin and the underlying tissue. Thus, while the dose would be safe if it were distributed throughout the volume of the entire body, the dose to the skin may be dangerously high."

"This comparison is very misleading: both the air travel cosmic ray exposure and chest X-rays have much higher X-ray energies and the health consequences are appropriately understood in terms of the whole body volume dose. In contrast, these new airport scanners are largely depositing their energy into the skin and immediately adjacent
tissue, and since this is such a small fraction of body weight / volume, possibly by one to two orders of magnitude, the real dose to the skin is now high."

"In addition, it appears that real independent safety data do not exist. A search,ultimately finding top FDA radiation physics staff, suggests that the relevant radiation quantity, the Flux [photons per unit area and time (because this is a scanning device)] has not been characterized. Instead an indirect test (Air Kerma) was made that emphasized the whole body exposure value, and thus it appears that the danger is low when compared to cosmic rays during airplane travel and a chest X-ray dose.
In summary, if the key data (flux-integrated photons per unit values) were available, it would be straightforward to accurately model the dose being deposited in the skin and adjacent tissues using available computer codes, which would resolve the potential concerns over radiation damage."

By the way, I hate the argument that goes a little like this..."we are already getting some radiation anyway, what's a little more". I hear this sort of argument all the time and not just about this topic. A little more of something that you are getting that is bad for you, is still bad for you.

Just my 2 cents.

I can not answer the part of what to expect as we haven't flown anywhere with our kids ever yet and don't plan to any time soon.
What I can offer a comment on is the radiation. One reason you see different radiation levels is that there are 2 different scanners in use. One has higher radiation then the other. You have no idea which one an airport is going to have. They only have one or the other, not both from everything I have read. It doesn't make the radiation any better but it might half with the confusion as to why you see different numbers.
My husband's been through the scanners a couple times now because of work travel. He says they're over pretty quick. I can say that San Diego has a separate line for flyers with children to help them through. I would think they aren't the only airport that does this.
Maybe make a game of it. Teach them the "statue" game. Teach them when you're in the scanner you stand like a statue like "this" (showing them). I used that for all sorts of things when I needed my kids to hold still for a short bit.
Good luck :)

I'm also curious, though I don't plan on flying again soon since we've moved. When I had my 15 month old DD with me (she's now 3 1/2) they "randomly" chose me to pat down and it was almost comical. The lady told me to put my arms out to the side...which I could not do as I was holding my DD who was scared since it was her first time flying anyway...so I did one arm at a time and they told me again I had to put both arms out...so I tried to put DD down, and she hung on like a little monkey...I put my arms out and they patted me down with her hanging from me holding on for dear life. Seriously...while several young foreign males (not meaning to offend anyone here) just waltzed through and laughed at us (can't blame 'em). It was a sight to see.
I've traveled alone several times now with my 2 kids and haven't had any issues since then (except trying to get strollers/carriers/luggage on the belt while trying to wrangle an infant and toddler...sheesh...there must be a better way!) But that was before the infamous "scanner" appeared....
Do do do do...twilight zone!
Good luck! I'll be reading the posts.

The pat downs are only for children over 11 and IF you refuse a scan. If you and your kids go through the scan, there will be no pat down.

Hi Krista,

I was not sure if I should write this, but it is a situation that I thought you should hear, just so you are prepared. It is not to scare you or stress you out. It is to better prepare you, and your kids for your trip...

My husband recently flew with my two year old. They apparently do the pat down regardless of what scanner is used on you. Well, at least they did at the Atlantic City, NJ airport.

My husband was not allowed to hold our two year old daughter and she was NOT liking it. She had to walk through and get scanned by herself. I don't want to scare you, but it was a pretty traumatic experience for her. We did not even think of preparing her for it because we had no idea it would be like that.

In addition to being taken from her daddy, my husband's knee replacement set off all kinds of alarms. They grabbed him, put his arms up on the wall, spread his legs, like you see when someone is getting arrested, and patted him down and searched him - all of this while my daughter was watching from the other side of the glass. He showed the card from the surgeon detailing the replacement prior to being scanned, but security didn't care. It was almost as if they did not believe him. I was watching helplessly from behind the security check point, which was the furthest point non-flyers were allowed to go.

It is a shame that the world has come to this, but people that are looking to do terrible things to others sometimes use children as a decoy. Security personnel are pretty much forced to trust NO ONE.

I would not worry so much about the radiation. Instead, I would focus on preparing your children and reassuring them that they are safe and you are not far away. Maybe go early, watch some people go through the check point, and explain what is going on so they know what to expect.

I would also try to bring as little as possible with you on the plane. I know with two little ones that is nearly impossible. If you have sippies with milk, juice etc, you are allowed to bring them, but it is an additional search procedure, where they x-ray the bag, but then also search it in that side room. People looking on think you are trying to smuggle something onto the plane, when you are just trying to feed your children.

Your situation may be totally different, and hopefully it isn't as stressful. It could have been one of those days at the airport, and maybe security was on high alert for whatever reason.

Either way, it is a situation that could happen anywhere, and I feel that it is better to be prepared for it and have smooth sailing, rather than not even plan ahead and be hit blindsided.

Good luck, safe travels, and Happy Thanksgiving,
L.