Are X-ray Machines Safe? You Bet, and Here’s Why.
It’s our most frequently asked question, and we understand why. “Are X-ray machines safe to use?” While we absolutely love X-ray technology, we get that people less familiar with it can be a little freaked out by radiation. The answer, of course, is yes. If you need a bit more detail, read on.
- It’s truly cosmic
- FDA’s got your back
- Frequent fliers get more exposure
Radiation is everywhere, and there’s no escaping it! Cosmic radiation is constantly bombarding the earth, and while exposure is higher in some places than others, some level of background radiation is always present. Simply roaming around your world, you’ll likely get 620mrem/year of radiation exposure. But not to worry; that’s normal. Unlike background radiation, which is always there, radiation from an X-ray system is only present for the limited time that a system is powered on, and because these systems are shielded, the radiation is safely contained within the cabinet.
FDA regulated cabinet X-ray systems, like those we build here at Creative Electron, have strict safety requirements. These regulations limit radiation outside the cabinet to a maximum of 0.5mR/hr @2”. To put this in perspective, a full-time worker who spent every shift within 2” of a cabinet X-ray system (X-rays on, at full power), would in a year have roughly the same exposure as if they got a single CT scan. In reality, most cabinet systems register radiation levels much lower that the 0.5mR/hr maximum, and often don’t even measure above existing background radiation.
Cabinet X-ray systems are extremely safe to use. For a bit more context, again a system cannot exceed 0.5mR.hr, while flying in a passenger jet will expose you to 0.6mR/hr. That’s right, radiation is everywhere, and frequent fliers will likely get more radiation exposure than an operator of a cabinet X-ray system. In addition to being safe, X-ray inspection is incredibly useful, and you should use it with confidence.
