Mail X-Ray Machines & Baggage Screening Devices - Point Security (2024)

FAQs

What can mail X-rays see? ›

X-ray scanners can detect hidden threats such as explosives, weapons, and contraband that may be concealed within mail and envelopes, helping to prevent potential harm or illegal activities.

Backscatter passenger scanners are used to detect threats such as weapons or explosives that a person could be carrying under their clothing. Backscatter machines use very low energy x-rays that are reflected back to the machine itself.

The scanners work by passing x-rays through the bag. The x-rays cause the atoms in the objects inside the bag to give off energy. This energy is detected and converted into an image of the object. The image is displayed on a screen so that security personnel can see what is inside the bag.

Staff who sort mail by hand should perform the screening, as they are the ones most likely to notice a suspicious item. Unfortunately, screening procedures for incoming mail and packages are not foolproof. The person who first detects a suspicious letter or package is often not the intended recipient.

About the only thing that an x-ray cannot penetrate is lead - so you could wrap it in lead BUT… Carrying a lead onto a aircraft is going to alert the x-ray operator to the fact that you are most likely concealing something - and your bag will be thoroughly searched.

If the package is not classified as Priority Mail Express™ service (domestic or international), Priority Mail® service, First–Class Package Service™, or an international letter package, it may be opened and its contents examined.

Thick metals, crystal, and some types of glass, e.g. camera lenses, which include special lead compounds added to the glass will also be opaque. Any bag with an X-ray opaque area should be hand-searched and then rescanned once the item has been removed.

They do get screened. At larger airports, checked baggage goes through an x-ray machine. An algorithm processes the image data.

The airport scanners can also detect liquids, metals, and rugs; even if you carry gold in the scanner, it will be seen. The scanners are designed to detect narcotics and drugs hidden in luggage or clothing.

Lead: The Go-To Material for X-rays and Gamma Rays. Since lead is an extremely heavy element (heavier than almost 80% of the other elements found on the periodic table), it's a common choice for fabricating radiation shielding products.

What shows up orange on TSA scanner? ›

By comparing the two detectors' outputs, the machine can construct an image showing not just the position of objects, but also roughly what they're made of and their density. Organic materials like paper, food and explosives are orange, while blue or green are used for metals and glass.

The airport scanners have no problems finding the pills that you are travelling with, liquid form or not. In case of travelling with pills in liquid form, in your carry-on baggage, they must not exceed 3.4 ounces/100ml.

Since aluminum, foil, and metal packaging have low densities, the x-rays can penetrate through them to identify contaminants. X-ray machines work well with any metal in packaging like aluminum cans, metallic lids, foil wrappers, or the metal twist ties of bread loaves.

If there is probable cause to believe the contents of a First-Class letter or parcel violate federal law, Postal Inspectors can obtain a search warrant to open the mail piece. Other classes of mail do not contain private correspondence and therefore may be opened without a warrant.

(Each post office is served by a mail processing plant.) From the bins, the letters are sorted into trays by ZIP code and flown or trucked to the next processing. At the final processing plant, sorting machines read the bar codes and sort the letters by carrier and into delivery order for that carrier.

Mail is scanned for Informed Delivery as it passes through the Postal Service's automated mail sorting system.