Post by truckertestdummie on May 17, 2011 19:56:38 GMT -5
Homeland Security -- Gamma Ray Scanners/X--Ray Scanners :
TRUCKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES MAY PAY LATER WITH THEIR HEALTH
NORFOLK, VA -- They are called Gamma-ray or X-ray scanners. One such company puts out a line of equipment know as the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS), a piece of equipment equivalent to an x-ray machine but using much more powerful gamma rays to inspect the contents of sealed ocean containers. At seaports everywhere truckers pick up large metal boxes called containers full of intermodal cargo transported by ship and then mounted on wheels when dropped of in the harbor.
Ports are using a mixture of X-ray & Gamma Ray Scanners to detect what is inside of the containers. Most of these scanning devices to start were mounted on mobile trucks but many now are being permanently installed at intermodal terminal gates. Some drivers are directed to drive through these new cargo scanning devices before leaving or upon entering the terminal property. In some cases the cargo is scanned only but other times the trucker and his cab are also checked for contraband possibly exposing thousands of drivers to damaging radiation.
Little does anyone know what future health effects will be by continued exposure of radiation on drivers having cargo scanned. Many have no choice in the matter but are ordered by operators to remain in harms way to pull the truck up in order to complete the inspection procedure.
Most workers hired to operate these gamma-ray or X-ray machines claim there is absolutely no risk involved but others are not so certain about that. Many believe that continued exposure, even low dose radiation is like depositing money in a bank. The more you are exposed the more this adds up to cell damage later in life!
Safety and Protection Radiographic cargo inspection systems require a small amount of protection (called 'localized shielding') to minimize exposure and maintain protection. Operators are supposed to be trained in radiation safety and should wear a badge (dosimeter) to measure any radiation exposure. To date, most operators have reported receiving very little or no dose associated with the operation of the cargo inspection system.
Dr. Helen Caldicott (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985) a trained pediatrician, co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility says,"There is no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation, it only takes one radioactive atom, one cell and one gene to initiate a cancer!"
Scanning delays shipments and adds extra cost to a port operation. That's where the gamma-ray scanners come in. While conventional X-ray scanners take up to 10 minutes to scan through the metal of a container and show the image on the screen, powerful gamma-ray scanners take from only a few seconds to a couple of minutes to complete the job.
To move lines along more quickly at some badly congested ports drivers are required to remain in their truck exposing them indirectly or in some cases directly to radiation. For many local drivers this can mean dozens of times a day.
Soon every port will have these devices installed at each gate making it mandatory to drive through on the way in and out.
At some ports plans are underway to include all port workers as they drive their private vehicles in to work. This daily exposure according to many scientist could lead to serious health risk for intermodal truckers, longshoremen, or anyone else forced to pass through the security scanning system.
Some inspectors now scan the container and the driver remaining in the cab each time. This according to several manufactures of the gamma-ray or X-ray scanning equipment should absolutely not be done.
In the comic strip The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner found out, gamma rays can be a dangerous tool. In comic fiction, high doses of gamma rays turned the Hulk into a green destruction machine. In real life, gamma rays are known to cause cancer and cell mutations in plants and animals.
The fact remains that gamma-ray technology is brand new -- it's only been out of the lab perhaps two decades. X-ray technology has been around for more than a century now. So there have been no long-term studies to establish the effect of gamma rays to port workers or truck drivers exposed on a daily basis.
Gamma-ray scanners will continue to be very much in demand at seaports around the country. The rays have an extremely short wavelength compared to X-rays. The shorter the wavelength, the more energy it carries and the more penetrating ability it has to scan cargo. That's why gamma-ray scanners work so much better in the inspection of ocean containers.
But this high penetration also means gamma rays can cause more harm to exposed human cells.
Rosalie Bertell, a reputed scientist who directed investigations into the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Russia and Union Carbide Corp's Bhopal Gas disaster in India studied the effects of low-level radiation (like those emitted by the gamma-ray scanners) on humans.
Bertell says,"There is no such thing as a radiation exposure that will not do damage. There is a 100 per cent probability of cellular damage when you are exposed to any radiation."
Virginia trucker Paul Barham says, "This is just one more example of how we are used at the port as free labor to perform another task, but this time our health and that of our family is in jeopardy. This is an unsafe operation and the time to do something about it is now or we are the ones that will have to pay later. They can move drivers to a protected area if they want to scan the boxes."
Barham pulls local container moves out of the ports of Hampton Roads Virginia, sometimes as many as a dozen trips to different port terminals in a day. Virginia ports have used the mobile scanning units to scan for contraband.
"I didn't realize how bad the radiation was until one of the workers started talking about how powerful gamma rays are," says Paul, "I just can't believe why port management would ignore the health risk of all the workers and drivers out here at the terminal without even a warning."
Paul is not alone in his concern. A growing number of truckers are now becoming increasing aware of the danger involved with being exposed to even low doses of radiation while working the ports.
"This is something we never imagined we would be dealing with in our job pulling steamship line boxes," says Jessie Smith an intermodal trucker working out of the port of Jacksonville, FL.
"They had some mobile units mounted on trucks, but now are installing these systems at the port gates down here. To my knowledge no one at the port has ever explained to us how dangerous or what the risk are to workers that are exposed to these units."
At the port of Savannah, GA. several truckers are removed out of line after being interchanged and ordered to drive through the mobile unit standing by to scan suspicious boxes. One driver questions the safety of the operation and is told he must follow directions or not to return to the port.
"I believe when all the truckers along with port workers here in Jacksonville find out what the health issues are in being constantly exposed to radiation no one will want to go through any of these machines," says Jessie, "I know I certainly don't."
TRUCKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES MAY PAY LATER WITH THEIR HEALTH
NORFOLK, VA -- They are called Gamma-ray or X-ray scanners. One such company puts out a line of equipment know as the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS), a piece of equipment equivalent to an x-ray machine but using much more powerful gamma rays to inspect the contents of sealed ocean containers. At seaports everywhere truckers pick up large metal boxes called containers full of intermodal cargo transported by ship and then mounted on wheels when dropped of in the harbor.
Ports are using a mixture of X-ray & Gamma Ray Scanners to detect what is inside of the containers. Most of these scanning devices to start were mounted on mobile trucks but many now are being permanently installed at intermodal terminal gates. Some drivers are directed to drive through these new cargo scanning devices before leaving or upon entering the terminal property. In some cases the cargo is scanned only but other times the trucker and his cab are also checked for contraband possibly exposing thousands of drivers to damaging radiation.
Little does anyone know what future health effects will be by continued exposure of radiation on drivers having cargo scanned. Many have no choice in the matter but are ordered by operators to remain in harms way to pull the truck up in order to complete the inspection procedure.
Most workers hired to operate these gamma-ray or X-ray machines claim there is absolutely no risk involved but others are not so certain about that. Many believe that continued exposure, even low dose radiation is like depositing money in a bank. The more you are exposed the more this adds up to cell damage later in life!
Safety and Protection Radiographic cargo inspection systems require a small amount of protection (called 'localized shielding') to minimize exposure and maintain protection. Operators are supposed to be trained in radiation safety and should wear a badge (dosimeter) to measure any radiation exposure. To date, most operators have reported receiving very little or no dose associated with the operation of the cargo inspection system.
Dr. Helen Caldicott (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985) a trained pediatrician, co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility says,"There is no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation, it only takes one radioactive atom, one cell and one gene to initiate a cancer!"
Scanning delays shipments and adds extra cost to a port operation. That's where the gamma-ray scanners come in. While conventional X-ray scanners take up to 10 minutes to scan through the metal of a container and show the image on the screen, powerful gamma-ray scanners take from only a few seconds to a couple of minutes to complete the job.
To move lines along more quickly at some badly congested ports drivers are required to remain in their truck exposing them indirectly or in some cases directly to radiation. For many local drivers this can mean dozens of times a day.
Soon every port will have these devices installed at each gate making it mandatory to drive through on the way in and out.
At some ports plans are underway to include all port workers as they drive their private vehicles in to work. This daily exposure according to many scientist could lead to serious health risk for intermodal truckers, longshoremen, or anyone else forced to pass through the security scanning system.
Some inspectors now scan the container and the driver remaining in the cab each time. This according to several manufactures of the gamma-ray or X-ray scanning equipment should absolutely not be done.
In the comic strip The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner found out, gamma rays can be a dangerous tool. In comic fiction, high doses of gamma rays turned the Hulk into a green destruction machine. In real life, gamma rays are known to cause cancer and cell mutations in plants and animals.
The fact remains that gamma-ray technology is brand new -- it's only been out of the lab perhaps two decades. X-ray technology has been around for more than a century now. So there have been no long-term studies to establish the effect of gamma rays to port workers or truck drivers exposed on a daily basis.
Gamma-ray scanners will continue to be very much in demand at seaports around the country. The rays have an extremely short wavelength compared to X-rays. The shorter the wavelength, the more energy it carries and the more penetrating ability it has to scan cargo. That's why gamma-ray scanners work so much better in the inspection of ocean containers.
But this high penetration also means gamma rays can cause more harm to exposed human cells.
Rosalie Bertell, a reputed scientist who directed investigations into the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Russia and Union Carbide Corp's Bhopal Gas disaster in India studied the effects of low-level radiation (like those emitted by the gamma-ray scanners) on humans.
Bertell says,"There is no such thing as a radiation exposure that will not do damage. There is a 100 per cent probability of cellular damage when you are exposed to any radiation."
Virginia trucker Paul Barham says, "This is just one more example of how we are used at the port as free labor to perform another task, but this time our health and that of our family is in jeopardy. This is an unsafe operation and the time to do something about it is now or we are the ones that will have to pay later. They can move drivers to a protected area if they want to scan the boxes."
Barham pulls local container moves out of the ports of Hampton Roads Virginia, sometimes as many as a dozen trips to different port terminals in a day. Virginia ports have used the mobile scanning units to scan for contraband.
"I didn't realize how bad the radiation was until one of the workers started talking about how powerful gamma rays are," says Paul, "I just can't believe why port management would ignore the health risk of all the workers and drivers out here at the terminal without even a warning."
Paul is not alone in his concern. A growing number of truckers are now becoming increasing aware of the danger involved with being exposed to even low doses of radiation while working the ports.
"This is something we never imagined we would be dealing with in our job pulling steamship line boxes," says Jessie Smith an intermodal trucker working out of the port of Jacksonville, FL.
"They had some mobile units mounted on trucks, but now are installing these systems at the port gates down here. To my knowledge no one at the port has ever explained to us how dangerous or what the risk are to workers that are exposed to these units."
At the port of Savannah, GA. several truckers are removed out of line after being interchanged and ordered to drive through the mobile unit standing by to scan suspicious boxes. One driver questions the safety of the operation and is told he must follow directions or not to return to the port.
"I believe when all the truckers along with port workers here in Jacksonville find out what the health issues are in being constantly exposed to radiation no one will want to go through any of these machines," says Jessie, "I know I certainly don't."
