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The same thing with shoe xrays. Proven safe for kids. Banned 20 years later.

"X-Rays are considered high risk."

You must be very young. Us old farts got their shoe size checked with x-rays until the 70ies.

http://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/shoexray.htm

In the US, they used to take X-rays of people's feet at shoe stores until they figured out that all of those unnecessary x-rays were a bad idea.

http://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/shoexray.htm

So what makes Australia think that subjecting innocent people to X-rays that have no medical basis is a good idea? What happens to the poor schmucks to get picked frequently for these types of searches?

This is really the first use of x-rays without some kind of medical benefit. And across the whole population.

That's not exactly accurate:

In the late 1940's and early 1950's, the shoe-fitting x-ray unit was a common shoe store sales promotion device and nearly all stores had one.

http://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/shoexray.htm

Reminds me of the time I was at the Science Museum in Minnesota and they had an exhibit from the Museum of Bad Science (or something like that).

It is the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. (It used to be housed in St. Anthony Main, but when that clsoed they moved it to the Science Museum.)

He postulated that it would actually be healthful. I don't that frequency was ever mentioned, but I also recall that it was supposedly at the "resonant frequency of the earth." His concept was to give out free electrical power, that had health benefits.

In electricity's early years, this was not an uncommon claim by some. You can look here for some of the more silly examples. Even today we have crazy Japanese people using beds with huge electromagnets embedded in them (citation needed).

I personally don't want microwave transmiters all around me or next to my head thanks. This reminds me of the foot-o-scope. http://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/shoexray.htm