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I've heard that law enforcement uses X-ray machines to look at vehicles on the road, without even asking or informing the drivers they are dosing with radiation
by bayesian_horse 10y ago
I've heard that law enforcement uses X-ray machines to look at vehicles on the road, without even asking or informing the drivers they are dosing with radiation.
Funny enough, these devices don't need FDA approval, since they aren't medical devices, and the operators don't need to know anything about radiation effects on Humans...
- ptaipale 10y agoThose X-ray machines are not DIY. They are specifically designed for the purpose. And FDA requires reporting from manufacturers. http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/SecuritySystems/ucm227201.htm http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmitt...
- lostlogin 10y agoSelf reporting. Excuse my scepticism, it doesn't have a great track record. Additionally, the users are not exactly experts on radiation safety or knowledgable about radiation dosage, and I don't see how manufacturer reporting can cover what happens in the field.
- CamperBob2 10y agoEveryone from dental hygienists to radiologists must undergo health physics training before being allowed to use an X-ray machine on human subjects. Everyone, that is, but law enforcement. Thanks, FDA. Good job.
- gohrt 10y agoBecause the law enforcement devices emit such a tiny rate of dose that it is impossible to harm someone while using it. "A person would have to be screened more than a thousand times in one year in order to exceed the annual radiation dose limit"
- AstralStorm 10y agoEasily achievable with indiscriminate screening. How many times a year do you pass under the speed meter?
- bayesian_horse 10y agoOr once with the wrong settings or too long of an exposure. Or the operators get the scattering effects wrong...
- CamperBob2 10y agoOh, well, that's different, then. As long as the cops and TSA goons are qualified to tell when the machine is malfunctioning, miscalibrated, or otherwise going full-Therac 25 on us, we're good.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoThose machines should be built to be at least as annoying as new cars - i.e. if anything breaks, any diagnostic fails, the machine should not start. They probably aren't built that way though because - unlike with cars - there isn't a profit motive to do it this way there.
- stordoff 10y agoIf you'd said, say, 50000 times, I might be more swayed, but a thousand seems easy to hit if these are widely used. If they're used daily, just passing two on a commute is enough to go over the limit.