Found this at the Kodak site:

"US Mail to be sterilized: Implications for Kodak and the photo industry

On Saturday, Oct. 27, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced a contract with the Titan Corporation of San Diego for the purchase of eight electron beam sterilization systems for use in sanitizing the US Mail. USPS also has an option for 12 additional systems.

According to Postmaster General Jack Potter, one of the first areas to receive the equipment will be the greater Washington Metropolitan Area, when delivery begins next month. However, USPS also contracted to use an existing Titan facility, beginning immediately.

Kodak is working with the USPS and various trade associations to better understand the full extent of the situation as it may apply to unexposed and unprocessed film, since film can be damaged by ionizing radiation.

Kodak will issue further statements as new information becomes available.

Eastman Kodak Company"

-- Cosmo Genovese (cosmo@rome.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

Looks to me like all the mail order film processing places will be lining up next behind the airlines.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), October 31, 2001.

Thanks for posting this. I was already wondering what might happen to Kodachrome and Agfa Scala B+W slide films. Both are processed in only a few places in the US. I happen to live in one of these, Miami, but if most people can't safely mail film, I suspect that these labs will eventually have to close down.

I also read on the Kodak site that some travelers are being "randomly" selected to have carry-on luggage inspected by high intensity X-ray. I'd hate to have to try to buy and process film at my destination.

-- Thomas Herbert (therbert@miami.edu), October 31, 2001.

I think Kodak, Fuji & the other film manufacturers need to figure out how to put a cheap radiation detector on their packaging, not unlike the built-in battery testers popularized by Duracell. No matter how careful you are, you just don’t know anymore. Even film you buy down at the “pro” store was shipped from far away, and it’s increasingly likely it was irradiated to some degree.

After all, these guys are in the radiation detector business. How hard would it be to make a little green dot turn into a little yellow dot if it got hit with enough X-rays or high-energy electrons?

Without such protection I dunno, it’s more & more a crap shoot (pun unintended.)

-- Jeff Stuart (jstuart1@tampabay.rr.com), October 31, 2001.

Am I missing something? Isn't the problem larger than just mail order processing labs? How will any camera store/film supplier receive film for us to buy? That film has to be shipped from the manufacturer to the distributor and again to the retailer. Isn't the film equally vulnerable during all this movement? It looks to me like the entire film/photographic industry is vulnerable on this issue of detoxing items mailed or shipped in the US. LB

-- Luther Berry (lberrytx@aol.com), October 31, 2001.

When I worked at a camera store, we never got our film stock in through the mail, but from UPS. Now if UPS and FEDEX start x-raying and irradiating all their shipments, we are in a lot of trouble.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), October 31, 2001.

Yes, the issue is larger than mailers. But, film can be shipped to dealers by trucks. The Kodak truck can pull up to a dealer or distributor just as the beer or cola truck does. I don't think refrigerated film gets sent by USPS now.

In any case, the issue of irradiating film is something that Kodak is obviously thinking about and something we all must face.

-- Thomas Herbert (therbert@miami.edu), October 31, 2001.

I've been using Kodachrome since KII and KX, I love the look of Kodachromes engraved by Leica glass, and I've been resisting the E6/Fuji juggernaught with rationalizing, denial and nostalgia, and besides I have a good supply of PK36 mailers.

Yesterday morning when I called the Qualex lab in NJ (where the Kodak mailers go) to ask about this issue I was rudely interrupted and told to talk to the post office instead of the lab. Yesterday afternoon my B&H order included some Provia 100F.

-- Douglas Herr (telyt@earthlink.net), October 31, 2001.