# How Intense are Airport X-Rays?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intense-are-airport-x-rays/201450>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 13, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intense-are-airport-x-rays/201450 "2003-09-13T22:26:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intense-are-airport-x-rays/201450/1 "2003-09-13T22:26:25Z")

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What kind of radiation levels can be found inside a typical carry-on X-ray machine at an airport? Does anyone have any values in roentgens or sieverts? Also, what kind of damage would an X-ray machine do to a living thing run through it?