Watch video · The type of body scanner found at U.S. airports—called a millimeter-wave scanner—doesn't pose much of a cancer risk, health experts say. Mar 02, · TSA justifies full-body scanners at airport checkpoints as “the most effective and least intrusive” way to search travelers for weapons hidden under their clothes. TSA justifies full-body scanners at airport checkpoints as “the most effective and least intrusive” way to search travelers for weapons hidden under their clothes. Although millimeter-wave scanners are becoming the primary full-body scanners used at airport security checks, there is still an alarmingly small amount of information about its potential health effects. The millimeter-wave safety standards are dose rate (power density) standards expressed in mW/m 2.