You Might Get Stopped By TSA This Summer If You Show Up to the Airport Like This
You’re probably pretty familiar with the major clothing no-nos when going through a security checkpoint at the airport—metal belt buckles, bras with underwire, bulky jackets. But now, travelers report that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is stopping them for an odd and embarrassing clothing snafu.
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In a recent Reddit post, a female traveler shared that when she went through the full-body scanner at the airport, her groin area was flagged. She said she was “wearing bike shorts and normal underwear” and had no “medical devices or piercings.”
So, what was the issue? According to a slew of other Redditors, “swamp crotch,” or the sweat stains that form in the groin area, is likely to blame.
“This happens to me when I’m late for a flight because I’m sweaty,” said one commenter. “If you went through the machine that makes you put your hands above your head, it senses moisture.”
“Last time I flew out of my home airport of Tampa, I got searched too, the guard said something unnerving like ‘swamp rot’ or ‘swamp crotch’ or something similiarly embarrassing,” shared someone else.
The sweat-stain theory isn’t just anecdotal, either.
In speaking with Reader’s Digest, Shawna Malvini Redden, PhD, a communication researcher who has studied the TSA since 2010, and the author of 101 Pat-Downs, sweat really can set off those security scanners.
“Perspiration is probably the weirdest thing that can set off the scanners,” she said. “It has to do with millimeter wave technology and how the waves bounce off water.”
To put this in context, Malvini Redden explained, “Essentially, the machines send millimeter waves toward a passenger’s insides. The waves go through clothing and reflect off the passenger’s skin (and whatever else is concealed) and bounce back an image, which is interpreted by the machine.”
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This means that sweaty armpits, backs, or other body parts could also set off the scanners.
In fact, a TSA spokesperson confirmed to USA Today that “added moisture from a person’s body can alter the density of clothing, so it is possible perspiration may cause our advanced imaging technology machines to alarm.”
But sweat isn’t the only thing in the groin area that may set the alarms off. Other Redditors commented that they’ve experienced getting flagged for feminine hygiene products and adult diapers.
An unverified TSA Transportation Security Officer responded, “In my experience: compression shorts, pads, diapers, moist/wetness, one piece suits are 85% of the flags I receive…. 12% is false alarms and 3% someone deliberately hiding something.”