Sheet Film and Airports

[Frank Petronio]

No offense to you personally but I can't help but find it discomforting that they would let a guy with loaded-down Army pants pass through without a hitch -- while they strip-search Granny's fanny.

Ain't the TSA great?

[z_photo]

"Why would a terrorist or other nut case want ... instead of just a few New Yorkers who feel special because they were targeted.

[Wallace_Billingham]

FWIW I used to work at the Airport in Baltimore Maryland doing baggage screening. That was in 1989 and 1990 before there was a TSA. I ran a roll of 400 KodaK Color film through the X-Ray Machine hundreds of times just to see what it would do. In the end it had no effect the film shot and developed just fine.

Remember that X-Rays are beyond UV on the spectrum (0.1-10 NM) and most films just do not have any sensitivity to it at all. Doctors and Dentists have to use special X-Ray film to take X-Rays.

Modern X-Ray machines used in carry on baggage screenings are much more sensitive to X-Rays than the machines I used 15+ years ago and as such use even less radiation than the old machines.

Also remember that for every hour you are in the air you are exposing your film (and yourself) to the same level of X-Rays used when you get a chest X-Ray.

Checked baggage on the other hand gets a very high level of radiation very much like a CAT Scan. Keep your film out of your checked baggage.

In the end just keep you film in your carry on bags and pass it through, nothing bad will happen and you will have an easier time with everything

[GPS]

...

Also remember that for every hour you are in the air you are exposing your film (and yourself) to the same level of X-Rays used when you get a chest X-Ray.
...

Nonsense. A typical dose rate for 1hr flight is 0.5 mrem. A chest x-ray examination is 6mrem.

[eric mac]

I have gone through carry on xray O'Hare (Chicago) and McCarren (Las Vegas) round trip twice with an unexposed holder. I developed the film and found no additional fogging compared to film that I left at home.

I have not let film go thru check in baggage as this will fry the film. I actually got a warning about the spot meter because of its shape.

Eric

Eric