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Chance of Dying From Backscatter Radiation Same as Chance of Terrorism

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Re: Chance of Dying From Backscatter Radiation Same as Chance of Terrorism

#3
> Peter Rez ... calculated the risk of getting cancer from a single scan at about 1 in 30 million

His odds were for a single flight, but I wonder if the scanner radiation has a cumulative effect?

Surviving a plane flight has no impact on the likelihood of the next one, so taking a lot of flights would edge the odds in favour of dying from the scanner cancer.

But then there`s the wide difference in the type of death.

Re: Chance of Dying From Backscatter Radiation Same as Chance of Terrorism

#4
More tellingly, on an average two-hour flight, you'd receive about 100 times the radiation from a single scan.

But, by using the transitive property, you're more likely to die from radiation at flying altitudes than from a terrorist attack on said airplane.

EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to include the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_X-ray#Health_effect...

Which comes from:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/radexp.htm...

Which explicitly states its references.

Re: Chance of Dying From Backscatter Radiation Same as Chance of Terrorism

#5
post #4

More tellingly, on an average two-hour flight, you'd receive about 100 times the radiation from a single scan. But, by using the transitive property, you're more likely to die from radiation at flying altitudes than from a terrorist attack on said airplane. EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to include the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_X-ray#Health_effect... Which comes from: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/…

[deleted]

Re: Chance of Dying From Backscatter Radiation Same as Chance of Terrorism

#9
post #2

Oh, well if they're equal, then that means this is a perfectly proportional and appropriate response.

That only holds if being sexually molested and having naked pictures of yourself taken is weighted at zero.

Furthermore, this statistic in no way indicates that these screenings reduce the risk of dying in a terrorist attack. 1 plus 1 does not equal 0. You've allegedly doubled your risk of dying, not reduced it.

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