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Naked In The Airport
 Passengers in the future may be exposed in the airport.
X-ray vision has come to the airport checkpoint in Phoenix, Arizona, courtesy of federal aviation officials who have installed a new device that peeks underneath passengers' clothing to search for guns, bombs or liquid explosives.
The new body-scanning machine, which went into use recently at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and will be tested later in airports in Los Angeles and New York, will screen only volunteers, at least initially. Transportation Security Administration officials want to make sure the machine is reliable and fast enough to replace the traditional pat-down -- and that it does not provoke too many protests.
Security officials examining the head-to-toe images work in a closed booth, hidden from public view, security agency officials said. Special "privacy" software intentionally blurs the image, creating a chalky outline of a body that is clear enough to see a collarbone, bellybutton or weapon, but flattening revealing contours.
Passengers selected for screening by the device are asked to stand in front of the closet-size X-ray unit with the palms of their hands facing out. Then they must turn around for a second screening from behind. The procedure takes about a minute.
Kenneth Johnson, 64, of Mesa, Ariz., was the first passenger screened Friday in Phoenix. He said he had titanium implants in both shoulders and one knee that always set off alarms at checkpoint metal detectors.
"I've been all over the world; I've been strip-searched," stated Johnson, who was traveling to Florida. "This was very easy."
Others found the scans objectionable.
"I think that is a violation of people's personal rights," said Kara Neal, 36, a mental health counselor on her way to Philadelphia.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union have raised similar objections, calling the X-ray scan a "virtual strip-search," and have urged Congress to prohibit its use for routine screening.
The vending machine-size device, which costs about $110,000, uses a technology called backscatter X-rays. The machine will be used only when passengers are pulled aside for a more thorough check after passing first through a metal detector.
While security agency officials say the machines, known as SmartCheck, pose no health hazards, some experts disagree. The machine, manufactured by American Science and Engineering Inc., of Billerica, Mass., generates about as much radiation as a passenger would get flying for about two minutes at about 30,000 feet, according to security agency and company officials.
Dr. Albert Fornace Jr., an expert in molecular oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center, said such a low dose was inconsequential, even for pregnant women.
"Obviously, no radiation is even better than even a very low level," Fornace said. "But this is trivial."
But David J. Brenner, a professor of radiation oncology at Columbia University, said that even though the risk for any individual is extremely low, he would still avoid it.
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