A Border & Immigration Agency working group is looking at different ways of ascertaining the age of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, including the use of x-rays. But using x-rays would flout regulations laid out by the Department of Health (DH) on the use of ionising radiation.
A spokesman for the Royal College of Radiologists said x-rays should never be used for non-medical purposes and, even then, only as a last resort. He said the type of x-ray needed to check age would fall into a category where a third party such as an employer would benefit, but there would also need to be an indirect benefit to the patient as well.
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