Concerns about radiation exposure from airport body scanners have been ongoing for over a decade. From the Environmental Health Trust webpage on Health Risks of Airport Security Full-body X-ray Screening Systems:
In April 2010, when screening using X- ray technology was in use, scientists at the University of California – San Francisco wrote to President Obama, calling for an independent review of the full body scanners’ radiation risks. The experts noted that children, pregnant women, and the elderly are especially at risk “from the mutagenic effects of the [body scanners’] X-rays.”
Nevertheless, body scanners are currently being used in some American schools and being considered for others.
From Gov Tech:
Body Scanners May Be Coming to Guilford County High Schools
A school district in North Carolina is seeking proposals for a touchless scanner that could automatically detect weapons without requiring visitors to unpack purses or other bags, to be paid for with COVID relief funds.
Jessie Pounds, News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.
(TNS) — Guilford County Schools is looking at adding body scanners at its high schools.
Bid documents posted on the district’s website show in its request for proposals, which closed May 12, the district sought a company that would be able to provide a touchless system that could automatically detect weapons without requiring visitors to unpack purses or other bags. Under the district’s specifications, the scanner would detect items such as guns, pipes and knives, but not activate for items like belts, keys, wallets and cell phones. The district doesn’t define who would count as a visitor.
In the request, the district said it was interested in trying out the scanners at its 19 traditional high schools and academies, and if that trial proved successful, the program could be expanded to the district’s 23 middle schools.