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SteelofUtah -> RE: Piercings and airport security?? (4/1/2008 9:03:17 PM)
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I find this ODD.
I was the Captain of a Secuity and Personal Protection Firm from 1998 to 2002 so somewhat recent.
We used Metal Dectors bit handheld and walk through.
Piercings just DON'T set them off. Neither do Plates in your Head, or Screws and Pins and Bars from Bone reconstruction.
Stainless Steel needs to be in Quantites where the Reactive Mass is Greater than that of 4 ounces of Steel. So Steel Toed Boots set them off but Piercings never did.
I am not saying someone is lying, but even with the girl and the TSA when asked if she had any Metal on her she VOLUNTERRED that she had her Nipple Pierced and that was what even brought them up (I read the ORIGINAL Report not the one posted above)
Piercings just don't have a great enough Mass to be detected by what a Security Check points wand or a walk through gate is supposed to catch.
In Example If the wand is set up to catch a piercing it is also sensitive enough to pick up your Pants Ziper, The Fastener of a Bra, it;s Underwire, and any other Metalic object.
If your piercing did set it off you may want to have it removed becuse it my be a Ferious Metal which can POison you as Metal Detectors pick these up best.
Apparently though it is possible with EXTREME Guages although many claim to have set them off the process they said they went though is usually not what TSA is Required by Law to do and so I ususally just write them off as liars.
HERE IS A ARTICLE FROM ABOUT.COM ABOUT PIERCINGS AND METAL DETECTORS.
Do Metal Detectors really go off from Piercings?
I get asked this question a lot – usually by those who don’t want their piercing(s) to be discovered. If you’re going to an airport, sporting event or anywhere else that a metal detector is involved, you might wonder if you’re going to end up setting off bells and whistles.
It’s helpful, first, to understand How Metal Detectors Work, and the reasons they are used for security purposes. Basically, a metal detector emits an electro-magnetic field that flows until it comes across something metallic. The metal object disrupts this flow in different ways, depending on its size and the type of metal. The metal detector is designed to give an audible signal when the field is disturbed.
Security metal detectors are used to look for dangerous objects – knives, guns, explosives, etc. Adjustments can be made to the metal detector to determine how sensitive it is based on the level of security needed. If necessary, a metal detector could be set to detect a very small amount of metal.
The problem with setting metal detectors to be over-sensitive is that it causes too many false alarms. Security areas at large public events would be completely congested with people setting off the alarms with keys, jewelry, pens, etc. It would make the job of actually finding dangerous objects nearly impossible. Therefore, metal detector sensitivity is usually not set that high.
My most recent trip through airport security (September, 2006) which was extremely tight with its new rules about liquids and how many personal items you could carry on, my 8 piercings didn't cause any issues walking through the metal detector. Neither did my underwire bra. But the penny I failed to remove from my pocket was caught by both the walk-through and the wand. The wand also reacted to the metal buttons on my jeans, but not my piercings.
In general, a few piercings usually does not pose a threat of setting off an alarm. However, with today’s heightened security, it is always a possibility. The risk increases with the more piercings you have or the larger gauge jewelry you wear in them.
If you really don’t want to have to explain your piercing(s), your best option would probably be to remove the jewelry before you get there.*
*If your piercing is new (less than 6 months) it is really not recommended that you remove your jewelry unless absolutely necessary. Even a healed piercing can close up quickly and make replacing the jewelry difficult and painful. Since your chances of setting off the metal detector are very slim, it might be best to just risk it. However, if setting off an alarm could cause serious problems for whatever reason, and removing the jewelry is your only option, please let a professional help you put them back in.
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