The manufacturers of such machines claim they are perfectly safe and present no health risks, but a study conducted by Boian S. Alexandrov (and colleagues) at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico showed that these terahertz waves could “…unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication.”

And yet no such long-term safety testing has ever been conducted by a third party. There have been no clinical trials indicating that multiple exposures to such terahertz waves, accumulated over a long period of time, are safe for humans. The FDA, in particular, has never granted its approval for any such devices even though these devices clearly qualify as “medical devices.”

Never approved as safe for humans

“At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss any notion that they can be damaging,” reports TechnologyReview.com. “But a new generation of cameras are set to appear that not only record terahertz waves but also bombard us with them. And if our exposure is set to increase, the question that urgently needs answering is what level of terahertz exposure is safe.”

And yet no such long-term safety testing has ever been conducted by a third party. There have been no clinical trials indicating that multiple exposures to such terahertz waves, accumulated over a long period of time, are safe for humans. The FDA, in particular, has never granted its approval for any such devices even though these devices clearly qualify as “medical devices.”

(If you try to sell an X-ray imaging device yourself, without FDA approval, you’ll be arrested. So why do these TSA  suppliers get away with selling human body imaging equipment that has never been adequately safety tested or approved by?)

The study cited in the TechnologyReview article mentioned above is visible at: http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.5294

There, study authors conclude: “Based on our results we argue that a specific terahertz radiation exposure may significantly affect the natural dynamics of DNA, and thereby influence intricate molecular processes involved in gene expression and DNA replication.”

In other words, millimeter wave scanning devices may damage your DNA.

Could these scans cause cancer and birth defects?

Could these scans cause infertility? Cancer? Shortened lifespan? We don’t yet know the answers to these questions, but then again neither does the TSA. This technology is being rolled out without adequate safety testing that would prove it safe for long-term use.

What about pregnant women? Can the TSA absolutely guarantee that these full-body scanners won’t damage the DNA of the unborn babies? What if this technology becomes the next Thalidomide and ten months from now women start giving birth to mutant babies who were damaged by terahertz radiation?

I’m not saying this is going to happen, but wouldn’t it be wise to determine the safety of this technology in advance of its global rollout?

As the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements admitted in a 2002 report that studied these security devices: (http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/AC…)

“[We] cannot exclude the possibility of a fatal cancer attributable to radiation in a very large population of people exposed to very low doses of radiation.”