The Physics arXiv Blog at MIT’s Technology Review magazine reported a year ago on the scanner radiation issue.
But what of the health effects of terahertz waves? At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss any notion that they can be damaging. Terahertz photons are not energetic enough to break chemical bonds or ionise atoms or molecules, the chief reasons why higher energy photons such as x-rays and UV rays are so bad for us. But could there be another mechanism at work?
The evidence that terahertz radiation damages biological systems is mixed. “Some studies reported significant genetic damage while others, although similar, showed none,” say Boian Alexandrov at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and a few buddies. Now these guys think they know why.
Alexandrov and co have created a model to investigate how THz fields interact with double-stranded DNA and what they’ve found is remarkable. They say that although the forces generated are tiny, resonant effects allow THz waves to unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication. That’s a jaw dropping conclusion.
And it also explains why the evidence has been so hard to garner. Ordinary resonant effects are not powerful enough to do do this kind of damage but nonlinear resonances can. These nonlinear instabilities are much less likely to form which explains why the character of THz genotoxic effects are probabilistic rather than deterministic, say the team.
This should set the cat among the pigeons. Of course, terahertz waves are a natural part of environment, just like visible and infrared light. But a new generation of cameras are set to appear that not only record terahertz waves but also bombard us with them. And if our exposure is set to increase, the question that urgently needs answering is what level of terahertz exposure is safe.
16 Responses to How Terahertz Waves Tear Apart DNA
Let’s Connect
Seriously folks – as the title of this ‘we won’t fly’ website indicates – unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not fly anymore. Sorry airlines, if you go bankrupt. Not my problem.
[...] Source: https://wewontfly.com/how-terahertz-waves-tear-apart-dna [...]
Got scanned once during the holiday, out of 5 flights. No pat down , the rest were metal detectors. Fortunately I don’t have to fly. Already notified Delta they would not be seeing my money again until definitive independent testing had been done on the scanners. Don’t care if they see me nekked as long as they don’t laugh, but am concerned about health effects of these “government approved” scanners.
Radiation exposure is a huge cancer risk!!
Look Terahertz rays are not used in these scanners. They are mm wave scanners. There are no Terahertz scanners. Its a different frequency to the one in the research. MM is a frequency alongside terahertz in the electromagnetic spectrum but so is infrared and light and they have different properties. Journalists are using the term Terahertz loosely not scientifically it refers to a frequency between 1 and 10 Thz. The body scanners are in the GHz region. Totally different effects.
I’m afraid that’s not right. Roughly half or more of the TSA scanners use the terahertz waves. They’re the x-ray “backscatter” ones.
there has to be a definite answer to this…its not like “did we come from apes or not”…isnt there info on their site?? im sure this info is readily available without guessing or assuming.
https://terahertztechnology.blogspot.com/2010/01/terahertz-scanners-are-not-threat-to.html
Get educated about this issue. Lots of hype, but no substance to the paranoia.
I’ll trust scientists and scientific research over a blogspot any day.
Bottom of that site says:
Randy Knudson:
I started this blog to create discussion about Terahertz technology. NOTHING ON THIS BLOG SHOULD BE CONSTRUED TO BE INVESTMENT ADVICE! IT IS JUST FOR FUN. DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE.
————————–
any factual sites that you know of? if i look up a pharma company about side effects of a drug i could get that…there must be info on this scanner…i cant seem to find any thats why im asking.
thanks.
That disclaimer is not about the data, it’s a legal disclosure required because they probably talk about financial investments from time to time.
We have blogged about this issue multiple times and there are other pages on the site with info. Use the search function and/or google.
@george donnelly – well the origional article in the reference is a BLOG!! I have read and understood the original paper and it doesnt draw the same conclusions as it says the effects are not deterministic – ie unlikely to occur. Anyway this a non story as neither mm wave or X ray use Terahertz frequencies. I repeat airport scanners do not use this frequency they use mm wave a thousand times lower! I know as I work in the industry and there are NO scanners operating in the Terahertz region (between 1 and 10 Thz) at any airport. Even the article (which obviously wasnt read correctly) says a “NEW” generation of cameras. They are not available yet and only in the lab. They cant scan a complete person (it would take days) . Besides that the only ones that do work in the terahetz region used in security are just cameras as the body emitts a large dose of terahertz radiation. The next generation (ie not available yet) will use Terhertz but emit less than a person. So getting a patdown exposes more. A body emits 1 Watt of terahertz radiation a scanner peaks at 5 nano watts. Thats 1 with nine zeros less energy!
LOL. A blog on a highly respected physics magazine’s website that has ties to MIT. In a totally different class from blogspot.
John, I can’t take you seriously. Post some citations.
John- nicely put! Unfortunately, the paranoia crowd has to have something to worry about, and this same nonsense is all over the net. People read something, and believe it is gospel, without understanding the limitations of what they read, or even the substance of the same.
You wonder if some of the people so violently against security measures like these have sympathys with the terrorist organisations. I really cant understand why people woundnt want to be searched before going on a plane unless they have something to hide.
What an ignorant thing to say. And it’s a strawman to say TSA critics want no security at all. Take your bs elsewhere.