Airport Scanners |

Important Report on Airport Scanners

By Eileen O’Connor – September 2011

In September 2011, my family and I travelled via Manchester Airport for a holiday to New York. My cousin went through the standard scanner, but my 81-year-old aunt and I were both randomly selected and required to use the airport’s backscatter X-ray scanner.

We immediately raised concerns with security staff, only to be told that under UK policy, passengers who refuse the scanners are not permitted to fly. My aunt already frail, recovering from a fall, and living with hip replacements was forced to leave her wheelchair and was not even allowed to use her walking stick for balance. My cousin, a highly experienced senior nurse with 40 years in the NHS, stood helplessly watching her mother struggle to stand in the scanner. She was outraged at the lack of compassion and disregard for basic dignity.

On our return to the UK a few weeks later, we flew out of JFK Airport in New York. The contrast was stark. Airport staff there assisted my aunt to security and began with simple screening questions, such as whether we had metal implants or a pacemaker. When we explained that my aunt had metal medical implants and I had a history of breast cancer, they respectfully offered an opt-out. My aunt received a straightforward pat-down and was allowed to remain seated in her wheelchair throughout.

This experience left me asking: What has happened to common sense, human dignity, and basic rights in the UK?

Photo: Ada at Manchester Airport, September 2011

Political Context

On 6 July 2011, the European Parliament voted to approve a resolution addressing prospective EU-wide rules on the use of body scanners at EU airports.

European Parliament Resolution – 6 July 2011
Title: Aviation security with a special focus on security scanners
Document Reference: P7_TA(2011)0329
Official Record: European Parliament Resolution

Key points of the resolution include:

  • Recognition of the need to provide fair and personalised treatment for vulnerable passengers, including pregnant women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and those with implanted medical devices such as orthopaedic prostheses and pacemakers. It also highlights the importance of accommodating passengers carrying essential medicines or medical devices (e.g., syringes, insulin).

  • A call for the European Commission and Member States to ensure that security staff receive specialised training on the use of security scanners, with an emphasis on respecting fundamental rights, personal dignity, data protection, and health. The resolution suggests that a code of conduct could serve as a valuable tool for staff operating these scanners.

This resolution clearly underscores the European Parliament’s commitment to implementing body scanner protocols that safeguard both the security and the health and privacy rights of all passengers.

Scientific and Medical Concerns

A powerful letter from University of California San Francisco professors to the White House raised major health warnings about backscatter X-ray scanners. They highlighted that:

  • A fraction of the female population is particularly vulnerable to radiation-induced breast cancer due to defects in DNA repair mechanisms. These women are already advised against X-ray mammograms, yet the scanners deliver a similar radiation dose to breast tissue just beneath the skin.

  • Immunocompromised individuals, including HIV and cancer patients, may be at increased risk of cancer from the high skin dose.

Read the UCSF letter here:
http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Backscatter_Scanners-2.pdf

EU Commission Findings

In 2008, the European Commission withdrew a draft regulation on body scanners following concerns raised by Members of the European Parliament regarding privacy and health risks. The Commission concluded that any deployment of security scanner technology must be preceded by a rigorous scientific assessment of potential health risks, especially those associated with ionising radiation.

This position was detailed in the Commission’s 2010 Communication on the Use of Security Scanners at EU Airports (COM(2010) 311), which states:

“Fundamental rights are protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In the context of security scanners, particular attention must be paid to human dignity (Article 1), respect for private and family life (Article 7), protection of personal data (Article 8), freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 10), non-discrimination (Article 21), the rights of the child (Article 24), and a high level of human health protection (Article 35).

The deployment of any security scanner technology requires a rigorous scientific assessment… Scientific evidence documents the health risks associated with exposure to ionising radiation. It justifies particular precaution in considering such radiation in security scanners.”

The full Communication can be accessed here:
European Commission Communication COM(2010) 311

This underscores the importance of ensuring that security measures do not compromise fundamental rights or public health, advocating for careful, science-based evaluation before widespread use of such technologies.

Media Reports

Raising Concerns in the UK

Anyone wishing to challenge UK Government rules on airport scanners can contact the Department for Transport:
📞 0300 330 3000
More details: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport#org-contacts

Eileen O’Connor
Charity Director, EM Radiation Research Trust