The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) has been asked by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prepare a report on radiation and safety. NCRP has adopted measurements developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which has approved a standard for scanning systems using X rays. NCRP and ANSI recommended that the effective dose per scan should be 0.1 μSv or less.

 

NCRP, for the purpose of radiation protection, recommended that:

• There should be two categories of ionizing radiation devices used for scanning humans for security screening purposes, general-use systems and limited-use systems.
• An effective dose of 0.1 μSv (or less) per scan is the basic criterion for distinguishing between the two categories. Both categories of systems should meet the recommended administrative control for a member of the public of 0.25 mSv (or less) effective dose per year for a single source or set of sources under one control (typically, “under one control” would refer to the use of scanning systems at one or more security checkpoints at a given venue)

General-use systems. General-use systems would be used mostly without regard to the number of individuals scanned or the number of scans per individual in a year, and should adhere to an effective dose of 0.1 μSv or less per scan. These systems would be appropriate for screening all members of the general public passing through a checkpoint, provided that the implementing agency has established the justification for such a screening procedure. The checkpoint in question is generally a security venue, and no attempt would be made (for the purpose of radiation protection) to limit the screening only to a selected portion of those seeking passage.

 

Limited-use systems. Limited-use systems would be used with discretion in terms of the number of individuals scanned and the number of scans per individual in a year, and would include all ionizing radiation scanning systems that require effective doses per scan greater than 0.1 μSv and less than or equal to 10 μSv per scan. At 10 μSv per scan, an effective dose of 0.25 mSv would be reached after only 25 scans.

These systems include scanning devices that exceed an effective dose of 0.1 μSv per scan, but the scanning device should not exceed 10 μSv per scan. In addition, the total effective dose for any individual should be 0.25 mSv or less in a year from limited-use systems used at a single venue.

RadPRO SecurPASS and radiation doses

The company says that the dose an scanned individual is exposed to is less than 0.25 μSv per scan. Here are some effective radiation dosages for comparison:

• One scan by the SecurePass LD = < 0.25 μSv
• 30 minutes of exposure to naturally occurring background radiation in Cornwall in the United Kingdom or Denver, Colorado = 0.25 μSv
• 4g of Brazil nuts = 0.25 μSv
• Single dental X-ray = 5 μSv
• X-ray tomography of the brain = 50,000 μSv (max), 10,000 μSv (min)
• Dental radiography = 5,000 μSv (max), 100 μSv (min)
• Chest radiography = 400 μSv (max), 100 μSv (min)
• Exposure during the flight by aircraft, flight duration:
• London-New York, 7.30 h = 37 μSv
• New York - Los Angeles, 6.15 h = 24 μSv
• Paris - Washington, 8.00 h = 41 μSv
• London - Rome, 2.30 h = 12.3 μSv
• Natural background radiation (24 hours) = 2.7 μSv -13 μSv