Safety Regulations and Standards
In the US, manufacturers of security related equipment can apply for protection under the SAFETY act, which limits their financial liability in product liability cases to the amount of their insurance coverage. The Rapiscan Secure 1000 was listed in 2006.
In the US, an X-ray system can be considered to comply with requirements for general purpose security screening of humans if the device complies with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard #N43.17.
In the most general sense, N43.17 states that a device can be used for general purpose security screening of humans if the dose to the subject is less than 25 μrems (0.25 μSv) per examination and complies with other requirements of the standard. Twenty-five micro Rem is equal to the amount of background radiation every human is exposed to (from the air and soil) at sea level every 1.5 hours and is also equal to the radiation exposure from cosmic rays when travelling in an airplane at altitude for 2 minutes.
Many types of X-ray systems can be designed to comply with ANSI N43.17 including transmission X-ray, backscatter X-ray and gamma ray systems. Not all backscatter X-ray devices necessarily comply with ANSI N43.17; only the manufacturer or end user can confirm compliance of a particular product to the standard.
ANSI standards use a standard of measurement algorithm called "effective dose" that considers the different exposure of all parts of the body and then weights them differently. The interior of the human body is given more weight in this survey and the exterior including the skin organ are given less weight.
The European Union is currently considering whether it is acceptable for this technology to be deployed in European Union airports. A report is pending from the Transport Committee of the European Parliament.
Read more about this topic: Backscatter X-ray
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