The holiday travel season has provoked increased concerns about body scanners. Most of the concerns focus on privacy protection. What often gets overlooked, though, is the possibility that body scanners could pose significant health risks to frequent flyers. Not all experts agree on whether the body scanners are safe. Many, however, are now pointing out that body scanners represent only a fraction of the risks associated with flying.

If you are worried about body scanners revealing your naked body to TSA workers and strangers, then your concerns are largely unfounded. The images are not only unpleasantly not erotic but reveal less than the average Baby Phat swimsuit.

If you are worried about a dose of radiation from body scanners, though, you might have something to think about, at least if you fly a lot. When you step into a body scanner, you are exposed to a small amount of radiation. This could have negative health effects for frequent flyers and those who already have health concerns.

The fact of the matter, though, is that body scanners only deliver a tiny bit of radiation. Flying, however, bathes your body in it. Some experts equate the amount of radiation that you get from the body scanner to the amount of radiation that every traveler gets while flying for two minutes at 30,000 feet. That’s because airplanes fly through areas that do not have a lot of radiation protection. The higher you go, the more radiation you get.

Frequent flyers, pilots and other airline workers might want to pass on the body scan. Repeated scans could potentially cause some health problems. Yes, there it is more likely that these people will experience health consequences from flying than the scanners, but the body scans are optional, so why not opt out. Those who don’t fly a lot, though, have little to worry about unless they are already sick.