What are the chances of your period setting off airport security?

Another day, another gorgeous gift from our XX chromosomes. This time, one (hilarious) creator on TikTok has unlocked a new fear: can your period set off airport security?

Bringing her experience to the girls in a video that's clocked over 21.8 million views and more than 2.5 million likes, creator Lindsey Gurk, explained “I went through airport security today and after they did the scan they were like ‘alright ma’am, we're gonna need you to step aside.' I was like, hmmm that's interesting, must be my necklace or something. And I turn around and on the monitor […] we got a yellow warning and we got a red hot warning, both in the crotch area.”

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@lindseygurk
Maybe everyone else knew this. But it was a big surprise to me. 🤷‍♀️😆✈️
♬ original sound - Lindsey Gurk

Sharing her thought process she continued “I'm thinking, do I have a necklace down there? And then I thought… oh no. I have a diaper on. I'm on day two of my period. For real, this is my only option on day two.”

She explained the women at airport security told her “'I’m gonna go up and down your legs and inside. I'm gonna go over your buttocks. Anything I should know? Any explosives? Any dangerous items?'” To which she replied, “‘well, I’ve got my period panties on.'”

The airport security asked if Lindsey if she'd like to go to a private room or have the search right there. “I said ‘oh, we can do it right here, just there’s a whole diaper situation going on right now and I wanted to let you know what you're getting into.'” So, Lindsey explained, “she frisked me up real good. In public. Which I requested. And I'm thinking, this is probably normal. You don't need to feel weird about this. This is totally normal. But when she excused me and gave a little chuckle, I realised, this might not be.”

So… can your period set off airport security? Lindsey mused “if you're wondering why I received a double warning, [it's] because blood has metal. A lot of iron. So next time you walk through a security airport in period panties and/or a diaper, just remember that.”

The comments section is everything you would hope it would be. One user wrote “Congrats on your iron intake, queen. Anemia is no joke. I'm proud of you.” But, experts have since squashed the theory, noting while being on your period can flag airport detectors, it's not exactly for the reason Lindsey thinks.

Fertility doctor and board-certified OBGYN, Dr Lora Shahine, posted her own video explaining “your period can set off the airport scanner, but it's not for the reason that [Lindsey] says. She thinks it's the iron in the menstrual blood that is setting off the scanner, but that's not the case. Let me explain.”

First of all, those scanners don't detect metal, they're actually looking for anything that's denser or thicker than your bare skin,” Dr Shahine notes. She expanded on this in her caption, revealing “body scanners work by detecting anomalies against the smooth outline of your body. A pad, especially a thicker one, can register as a difference in density or shape and trigger a pat-down of that area. Menstrual cups and tampons sit inside the body and virtually never get flagged. It’s a little awkward, but it’s a false alarm, not a privacy breach, and the scanner has no idea what’s going on inside you. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Continuing in the video Dr Shahine explains “second of all, we don't have that much iron in our blood. It's not the metallic iron that you're thinking of. Iron is held in haemoglobin, which is in our red blood cells and we have less than three or four grams throughout our entire body. It's not that iron is triggering the airport scanner, but your menstrual flow can, if you are wearing a diaper or a big menstrual pad or any sort of bunched up fabric in that area. It's going to flag the airport scanner."

So, there you have it. Another win for womankind.

Original article appeared GLAMOUR UK