4 ms·

Can't they just make all employees wear lead vests? I guess the added weight would cost a lot in fuel...

• samus 3y ago
  Unlike in medical facilities, the radiation comes from multiple directions. Also, the crew moves around the plane. The vests would have to cover an impractically large area. Also, when radiation is blocked by matter, secondary radiation is generated. Since the composition of cosmic radiation is for sure different than the one found in other occupational settings, lead vests might or might not have the same effect. Also, the aluminium skin of the aircraft already has a similar effect. There might not be that much to be done practically. It would be interesting though to let flight crew wear radiation badges.
  • sidewndr46 3y ago
    I'm pretty sure military flight crews already do that, albeit with the idea of measuring exposure in case of nuclear war.
• moffkalast 3y ago
  Probably makes sense to add HDPE+boron radiation shielding to the entire cabin. Or the simpler one, just don't fly as high.
• fluidcruft 3y ago
  If anything they'd do the opposite so that the public doesn't get "the wrong idea" something dangerous is up. Just look at how Homeland Security made it illegal to measure how much radiation the post-9/11 security screening devices put out, forbade medical physicists from testing them, forbade employees working near the scanners from obtaining and wearing their own protection, and fired workers who wore their own dosimetry tags.
  • pbhjpbhj 3y ago
    >Homeland Security made it illegal // How do they stop sales of scanning equipment to people who want to do testing? You could easily buy them abroad, and do tests abroad. Also, could you cite the US Code on this please. Thanks.
    • fullspectrumdev 3y ago
      You could also just leave a dosimeter in your pocket when going through the airport next. There’s a few on the market that log over Bluetooth. Not taken one through the body scanner, I’ve not actually had to go through a body scanner in quite a while at the airport. Just usual metal detector.
      • fluidcruft 3y ago
        I was referring to the security officers who stand next to the machines everyday. They were forbidden from measuring anything related to occupational exposure. At one point the TSA found itself caught in so many lies about their supposed "testing" that they ran a very public PR-style limited study. Coincidentally, nowadays the backscatter scanners have been quietly replaced with millimeter wave scanners. Anyway the point of my comment wasn't to re-litigate this. It's more that the original comment struck me as "can't the fox just guard the henhouse?"
        • landemva 3y ago
          An officer traditionally has been a person in military with a commission (or NCO), or police. TSA are government employees, with self-created pretend titles and fake badges. TSA can't detain or arrest and if scan tunnel shows possible weapon the TSA aren't allowed to touch it and the line cop does that.
    • fluidcruft 3y ago
      Why is it our job to establish the safety of devices? The TSA lied through its teeth about these devices and is accountable only to themselves. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/scientists-cant-check-tsas-scanner-safety-claims/ https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/scientists-cant-ch... https://www.financialsense.com/contributors/gonzalo-lira/a-full-body-scan-of-american-corruption https://www.financialsense.com/contributors/gonzalo-lira/a-f...