To help keep travelers safe, airports may use different kinds of screening equipment. Airport security scanning equipment is used to check carry-on items and checked luggage for items that are not approved for air travel. Some of the equipment used during the screening process can emit low-levels of radiation. On this page:
- About Radiation and Airport Security Scanning
- What you can do
- Where to learn more
About Radiation and Airport Security Scanning
Keeping public places, such as airports, safe is a big job. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners at airports check passengers and personal items for dangerous items such as weapons, chemicals and liquids that are not allowed as carry-on items. They use screening equipment such as metal detectors, millimeter wave machines, backscatter x-ray and cabinet x-ray machines. These devices also detect items that may be hidden.
The various types of screening equipment used at airports today each have a different screening purpose. Guidelines are in place for using the equipment in order to keep you safe.
Non-ionizing Radiation Scanning Equipment
Metal detectors use magnetic fields to help identify metal objects. Magnetic fields are produced by the flow of current through wires or electrical devices. Metal detectors create a magnetic field by using a brief pulse of electrical current. The magnetic field will be reflected back to the machine if there are any metal objects present, such as a watch or a belt buckle.
The return signal is detected by the machine and a beeping noise is produced to alert the TSA agent. The metal detectors ignore very small amounts of metal, like the button on your jeans or small earrings. Some equipment uses non-ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation has enough energy to move atoms in a molecule around or cause them to vibrate, but not enough to remove electrons from atoms. In airports,
