Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg reassured lawmakers Wednesday that radiation from the new full-body security scanners being installed at U.S. airports is not a cause for concern.
Testifying before the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Hamburg responded to concerns raised by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., about radiation from medical imaging devices and the airport scanners. Hamburg said the FDA cares deeply about the level of exposure from CAT scans and similar devices and is working with companies that manufacture them to make them less prone to error.
On the airport scans, she said the level of radiation "is minimal," less than that from medical devices. Hamburg said she would like to move to a system where consumers can track accumulated exposure from X-rays and other equipment over the years.
The Transportation Security Administration plans to have 200 of the full-body scanners at U.S. airports by year's end and 900 by 2014.
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