I know this is off topic, but a lot of people who come here to look around also have piercings. So I thought I would touch on a question that I’ve been asking twice in the past week! I know it has nothing to do with tattoos, sorry, but you might find it helpful anyways! So for everyone who doesn’t want their piercing to be discovered - this is for you
If you’re going to an airport, sporting event or anywhere else where a metal detector is gonna catch ya, you might wonder if you’re going to end up setting off bells and whistles right? It’s helpful, however, to understand how metal detectors work and the reasons they are used for security purposes. Basically a metal detector emits an electromagnetic field that flows until it comes across something that’s metallic. The metal object disrupts this flow in many different ways depending on it’s 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 such as knives, guns, explosives, etc. Adjustments can be made to the metal detector to determine how sensitive it really is based on the level of security needed. If necessary though 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 way too many false alarms. Security areas at large public events would be completely congested with people setting off alarms with keys, jewelry, pens and all that crap. It would make the job of actually finding dangerous objects nearly impossible! So usually metal detector sensitivity is usually not set that high.
My recent trip through airport security which was extremely tight with its new rules about liquids and how many items you could carry on board, my 8 piercings didn’t cause any issues walking through the metal detector. Neither did my underwire bra though!! But the penny I forgot 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.
Generally speaking, a few piercings doesn’t pose a threat of setting off any alarms. But, with today’s heightened security, it’s always a possibility. The risk increases with the more piercings ya have or with the bigger gauge jewelry you wear in them.
If you don’t wanna have to explain your piercing, the best option would be to remove it before ya get there!
Have you ever set off a metal detector or know someone who did?
Franchesca
