I've been trying to call this to everyone's attention for well over a week. But this article fails to mention that TSA DOES NOT change their gloves after checking each person. The following is an example of what I have been trying to say:

Have you noticed the blue gloves that the TSA uses for the Pat Downs??? And have you noticed that they DO NOT CHANGE THE GLOVES after frisking the previous passenger, who just might have some germs bad for you???? All other professionals change gloves along with the proper sanitary disposal after finishing working with each individual. So why should TSA be required to apply any less than acceptable standard health practices??? The gloves are for protecting themselves and they could care less about their passengers' health. Start demanding better health standard requirements from the TSA with their frisking, especially with young children and the elderly whose immune systems may not be as strong.

A very Happy and safe Thanksgiving to all!! May you enjoy peace, good friendships, and relaxation during these very trying times!

MRSA and anything else that is transmissible via TOUCH...ewww!

This article white-washes the real problem of spreading the germs with pat-downs. The article says that TSA uses blue gloves and and sanitizers. But it neglected to say that the gloves are not changed after checking each individual, which is where the real problem lies. When the TSA agent goes off duty, they just drop their dirty gloves into an unclosed box. What happens to this box afterwords is unknown, but I doubt seriously that it is disposed in the proper safe hazard, sanitary mode. Think about all of this seriously!! Make a report to the Health Dept., because this is just as critical as flying safe from terrorism. You do have the right to expect good safe health practices when being subjected to pat-downs or x-ray machines regardless of what they do. Far too often the real results come out years later about medicines, etc. Remember "Agent Orange" used with the military in the Viet Nam War, which the Govt. denied for many years?

What? you're worried about germs on your socks? Talk about paranoia. People. Just wash your hands more often and you'll be fine.

Independent Thinker, I've seen you posting your warning, which I agree with, and I think you are the reason this story was published. However, "they" have decided that if you do get sick at the mercy of the airlines, you are supposed to believe that it is more likely that its because of other passengers filthy habits, and only very remotely possible because the TSA chooses to rub everyones junk with the same glove.

Apparently in addition to being filthy, Americans are also stupid. (sarcasm)

Of course rightly amused, because stating a biased absolute about the entire 300 million population of a country is logical and accurate. If that was sarcasm you're doing it wrong.

I am as careful about hygiene as a frequent business traveler can be. Up to now, 3 - 4 times per year I could count on dragging something home to share with the family. Airplanes are flying cesspools.

Now to have TSA/Government acting as an agent/spreader of infectious diseases is just about my last straw to air travel.

What have we really had? 1 guy with underwear and 1 guy with shoe's out of 100 - 200 million travelers? Where are the trained dogs and security technique's that really work?

Napolitano and Pistole say 100% of passengers get radiated or groped - but they can't inspect 100% of the cargo which is really the bigger danger to air travelers.

I think this is all about Government's attempt at justifying the buying millions-billions of dollars worth of machines. The machines are inefficient (as I've read) and dose you with radiation (a cumulative - medical fact). It's about having TSA be as obtrusive as possible to force you into those machines so it can be said governments decision to spend tax revenue was JUSTIFIED in the first place.

I firmly believe somebody, somewhere, is sticking a lot of cash into their pockets over this!

I'm going to be leaving a day earlier and drive a lot more. Sorry airlines....

There are germs everywhere when flying.

Yes, who is doing the Inspection of how the TSA agents disgard their latex gloves everytime they examine another person? The agents have to watch out for diseases. Do they know this? Do they put the dirty gloves on their faces, nose, or mouth after examining a passenger? Who is the Watchdog for them and for us? Filth from people's clothing, picking up skin dermatitis, diseases or others; not bathing, bacteria, etc. are transmitted to people who have the Pat Downs. This is really disgusting if one thinks further about this forced procedure.

Another problem is all Commercial Airliners recirculate the same air we breathe when on a flight. This is FULL of germs, causing many people to get sick, after they reach their destination or come home. It's a known factor.

The TSA is one huge joke for an Agency that cares about people who fly. The President endorses all the procedures, and guess what. The Methods are not going to change.

No one in this Admin has ever valued another citizens' concerns. Why now?

It will only change if there is a change in Government 2012. Someone will listen. 2 long years to go. Take the Monorail in the meantime.

OMG don't get me started about those filthy groper gloves.

Do you think they would have given anymore of a damn about infection control during last year's swine flu hoopla?

These gropers are far to intimate and can easily transmit disease from one person to the next since they never change their gloves. Wait until there’s another contagion circulating similar to the H1N1, for example.

Think about it. These molestors can easily transfer something disgusting from the previous passenger to your child.

If you go through the scanner, then nobody is going to touch you.

Doctors change gloves between patients. They then use the same pen/keypad for notes and the same stethoscope. Hospitals are loaded with many more infections diseases, than even a planes toilet, think MRSA.

Wash your hands frequently, do not touch your face, and carry disposable footie's. NEVER take your shoes off on a aircraft or use their pillows. I contracted a nasal infection, courtesy of China Airways, it required almost 3 months to cure.

Many people in Asia and the EU are wearing face mask now. But they have much higher rates of TB, also.

Be safe or be sorry, your choice.

Raised by Wolves is offering some valuable info on how he (or she) is taking precaution to insure a healther flight. If you all would quit crying and think about it, each and every one could come up with something that would help keep you at less risk. AND I'm sure that most of you would be quick to blame the government if someone actually got on board and took down a flight. I can hear it now. "They should have done more vigorous screening to keep ME safe." Wa wa wa wa...

If you go through the scanner, then nobody is going to touch you.

I keep hearing this same quote from the TSA crotch-sniffers. If someone is choosing the pat-down as the lesser of two evils... choosing sexual molestation over the scanner, what in God's name makes them think that someone would rather be virtually strip-searched?

They have no right to do either. And the day John Pistole gets his head put on a political stick will be a great day for America.

No kidding, Feronia. People opt for the patdown so they don't have to be exposed. Not so TSA can get a close-up plus some touches.

Besides, those opting for scanners still end up getting the patdown sometimes. It isn't strictly voluntary!

"If you go through the scanner, then nobody is going to touch you."

Yes, that's true. They won't touch you until after you come out of the body scanner.

RaisedbyWolves... here's your answer to the "Do they change their gloves ?" question. And the answer is NO. Pretty disgusting. Make sure you DEMAND they change to a new set of gloves people !!!

http://www.naturalnews.com/030495_TSA_infectious_disease.html

There's a startling fact about the TSA pat-downs that most of us have not realized: TSA agents often do not change their latex gloves between pat-downs! With these pat-down reaching into your pants, feeling your genitals, and sweeping bare armpits and buttocks, those latex gloves being worn by the TSA agents are obviously teeming with germs.

And yet TSA agents often don't change gloves between patting down passengers. They're often using the same gloves on you and your crotch as they were using on the previous passenger's exploratory crotch feel.

You are very sadly mistaken. TSA does not use LATEX gloves. They do not pat down BARE skin. They do not feel anyone's genitals. And they change the gloves between each passenger. Why do people keep speading such disgusting lies?

sis82: How do you know? Are you an insider who knows the policy or are you just someone who has "faith" in the TSA and who thinks that they would naturally do the right thing? Do you think all of the people reporting on this subject are wrong?

That's right, the government won't accept any liability even though they are sanctioning it all. Take our rights away, treat us as criminals, subject us to scans that can be negative-reversed so these a$$holes can have naked pix of us, molest children, adults, elderly and handicapped, and now, cover us with bacteria from previous passengers and give us possible bugs, infections and diseases. Seems to me the US government is really going for our throats on this one. All with the blessings of the idiot American sheeple on top of it! Can't wait to see what's coming next.

Hey, hey! Careful with that “high school educated schmuck” stuff. You are going to make Profanity, Limpbag, and Beak feel self-conscious. They are absolutely sure they know something.

A little repect please!

The FDA doesn't allow food handlers to dab on hand sanitizer in lieu of washing their hands. It isn't a substitute for proper hand-washing, and it isn't an approved method for sterilizing equipment such as gloves.

There is no "magic potion" you can rub over latex gloves to make them good as new, not even hand sanitizer. It's a false sense of hygiene, which is dangerous at best, because it will prompt an ignorant TSA officer to conduct a patdown as if he is disinfected when he isn't. Demand new gloves.

It is completely unacceptable that these TSA agents are doing these enhanced pat downs, including sticking their hands down people's pant, and hen not changing their gloves between screenings. How long is it going to be before one of these TSA agents winds up starting a major epidemic. Any TSA officer who tries to stick his dirty gloved hand down my pants better think again. The last thing I need is to wind up getting some STD or other disease because of the TSAs completely inadequate hygiene procedures. Following any enhanced pat down, the TSA agent should be required to wash his hands and change his gloves the same way any doctor examining a patient would.

so true! They stuck their hands down the waist of my pants and circled around!

What if some one goes commando to a flight, wearing low rise pants, with and std! The agent could easily be touching and infected area!! :(

Franklin, please, don't be a dunce. Unless a security officer is reaching INTO someone's pants, or touching bare skin that does not look clean, there is no reason to change one's gloves for every single passenger.

People, wake up already. I've been through and watched dozens of pat downs. They are NOT patting you down to touch your bare skin: please tell me the last time you've seen a weapon hidden on bare visible skin. Oh, that's right: NEVER! You people have nothing better to complain about?

Sure, sure, some unkempt dude's clothes might be dirty, and then they are touching your clothes. BFD!! That same dude is sitting on the airplane seat that you sit on. So what if they grabbed his buttocks and felt him up OVER his clothing?

If some grandma is flying with gaping cellulitis or open sores, they are likely to change their gloves even if they don't touch bare skin. Otherwise, the gloves are to protect the workers, not the people they screen. Protect yourself by not touching your face, by washing your hands, etc, which is good practice regardless of what TSA does to screen people. Or go ahead and keep complaining about nothing, like this idiot.

Definition of TSA-----"Transmitting Severe Abuse.

Another name for this Agency.

@Franklin, NO they do not change their gloves after each pat-down, BUT you DO have the right to request a TSA agent change gloves before giving YOU a pat-down. Just make sure they pull them from a new box of gloves, and not from their pants' pocket (which can be just as germ-infested as a toilet).

Bottom line, if the TSA insists on continuing these invasive body searches, then they should be forced to comply with CDC guidelines on minimizing the spread of germs and bacteria -- don a NEW pair of gloves for each pat-down.

I don't want my clothes stained with hand sanitizer. Do they wipe their gloves, after using the Sanitizer lotion?. The whole scenario is much too gross to think about.

TSA procedure; PD is not for germaphobics, or normal people who realize transmitting diseases, or viruses is totally possible.

The TSA Agents. Did they have a short class on how not to transfer germs from one passenger to the other?

I never hear anything about how well-trained they are to suit each individual going through the PD. Nor how much radiation is in the Scanner. They are hiding information from the general public. Otherwise, it would be right out there.

Run for you lives the germs are coming, the germs are coming.

Hand sanitizer is a better-than-nothing approach to help reduce germs between hand-washings. It is not an alternative to real hand-washing.

Regarding food services, the FDA recommends that hand sanitizers not be used in place of soap and water, but only as an adjunct. A hand sanitizer cannot and should not take the place of proper cleansing procedures with soap and water. To be fit for reuse, gloved hands would have to be scrubbed with soap under running water for at least 30 seconds. Otherwise, change the gloves.

I mean, come on, latex gloves are CHEAP. An extra 30 cents per plane ticket would MORE than cover it. Just wiping sanitizer on the gloves is ignorant and irresponsible.

The TSA officers wiping their gloved hands after the patdown is NOT to clean them. And YES they do change gloves between EACH passenger. (for those of you who have been uninformed or misinformed...)

It's so sad to see so many uninformed or misinformed people out there who just believe whatever the media is feeding them. FYI The TSA officers wiping their gloved hands after a patdown is NOT to sanitize them; it's for testing purposes. Then the gloves are THROWN AWAY. Each passenger is patted down with a clean pair of gloves. (Hopefully at least a few people will read this and come to learn the truth) Oh and one more thing, they probably feel just as comfortable/uncomfortable as the person being patted down.

Oh and one more thing, they probably feel just as comfortable/uncomfortable as the person being patted down.

So what? I'm sure many of the German officers were uncomfortable exterminating people in concentration camps under the Nazi Party. "Just following orders" has never been worth much sympathy. So far, TSA officers have been voluntarily employed and collected a salary for their work. Unlike robots, they are just as capable of quitting or organizing strikes against the new guidelines as air passengers are. If you don't walk away, then you are accepting these civil liberty violations against human beings and American citizens, and deserve any scorn that goes with that affiliation.

It's not like anyone has a gun to their heads or is holding their families hostage to perform these patdowns. They are agents of these atrocities - by choice - whether they are happy about it or not.

Oh and one more thing, they probably feel just as comfortable/uncomfortable as the person being patted down.

This whole "we're all just victims of our government's mandates" excuse is despicable. It's the weak victim mentality that perpetuates the problem in the first place. What else would you be willing to do to your fellow citizens, to follow orders?

Barnacle, if they are patting ME down, they will go and WASH their hands, use hand sanitizer AND change gloves.

Why, do you appear particularly filthy?

Actually, yes they do change them in between passengers. And who carries USED tissues in their pocket besides old people? Eww!

There are plenty of instances (with footage) where they have not. Certainly not an assumption one should make before getting a serious patdown.

But notice the employees are well protected with hand sanitizer just in case something gets through their gloves :/

They actually do wear nitrile gloves. Good point.

We need to stop all blue eyed blonds because of Timothy McVeigh.

Perhaps this is why we keep seeing "bedbugs" in the news?

I do not belive that air filters filterout particles below 10-15 microns, so like it or not you will get the germs.

You missed one, Witchdoctor - one that is giving them fits in hospitals and it just LOVES hand sanitizer. It is called Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff) and it likes hand sanitizer because it gives it something to stick to. C. Diff has a hard outer membrane and is impervious to alcohol, which is all hand sanitizer really is. However, a vigorous hand washing with soap and a thorough rinse defeats it and washes it away.
A friend of mine with whom I worked contracted it while in hospital a few years back. She nearly died because it took them so long to diagnose and treat it.

Now if they only did that...

kbv, please see post #8.3 above. Hand sanitizer is NOT an acceptable substitute for hand washing or clean gloves.

Well said, RN

This is not an xray that takes pictures of your bones. Relax. It only sees through clothes.

Bull. Obviously you are unfamiliar with radiology prcedure.

I'm a radiologist.

And I am the Queen of Sheba. Wherever that is now.

FTR, there are TSA scans posted all over the place that show rather clear skeletal detail. If you as a radiologist are this complacent about it, let your pregnant wife or daughter go through one of these.

I've seen those supposed scans and they are obvious fakes. Do you always believe everything you see on the internet? You probably also believe that 9/11 was an inside job.

My understanding is that you have to 'ask' them to change their gloves. Fortunately for me, 'no fly' is an option and I am exercising that option as long as this policy is in place. The Portland incident is proof that these are not the tactics that will catch a terrorist, but good FBI investigative work.

Well put, HarmNone.

You know, They have a hard job, would you want that job ??

I would like to see more equipment installed that offer passive detection of things like metal weapons in shoes. I goggled it and saw something called the Magshoe that allows you to leave your shoes on. Leaving your shoes on for older people is a big deal.

LOL, We're supposed to be thanking them, remember?

Captain, if I lived close enough to an airport emplying security agents, I'd take that job. Then, I'd show them how to at least treat someone with respect.

moto, what I will say about you is that I agree. One of those burkhas, or the robes the men wear, can easily conceal 15-20 pounds of plastic explosive and a small donkey.