WASHINGTON — Documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research organization, raise new questions into the safety of TSA airport body scanners.

The documents were obtained in the lawsuit “EPIC v. Department of Homeland Security.”

According to EPIC, one set reveals that TSA employees identified cancer clusters possibly linked to radiation exposure but the agency failed to issue dosimeters to employees, which are safety devices capable of assessing the level of radiation exposure.

Another document, EPIC said on its website, indicates that the DHS mischaracterized the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, stating that the NIST “affirmed the safety” of full body scanners. The documents dispute that characterization according to EPIC and state that the institute did actually test the devices.

Also, a Johns Hopkins University study revealed that radiation zones around body scanners could exceed the “General Public Dose Limit.”

For more information or to read the documents, visit www.epic.org. EPIC was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values.