Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/09
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Most people probably already know about this, but since its in
the news right now, and since it's so important, I thought I'd
repeat the article here...
Saturday, May 9, 1998
Airport scanners "may ruin your film"
By GREG LENTHEN, Tourism Writer
Holiday snaps are under threat from a new generation of
airport scanner, sparking a warning to travellers to carry
unprocessed film
through airports only in hand luggage.
The Photographic and Imaging Manufacturers Association of
the US (PIMA), which represents names like Kodak, Fuji, Agfa and
Polaroid, has warned that new scanning equipment employed
not only x-rays but CAT scans "which can ruin your pictures".
Its executive vice-president, Mr Tom Dufficy, advised
travellers to keep unprocessed film in their hand luggage because
the "vast
majority" of x-ray equipment used for carry-on baggage was
"safe for most films, even in multiple scans".
The new inspection device, a CTX 5000, is made by the
California-based InVision Technologies which has adapted medical
CAT scans
to detect explosives.
Mr Kent Nusthit of the company's marketing division told
the Herald that InVision had sold 100 of the machines in Asia,
Europe, the
Middle East and North America. None had been sold in
Australia "yet".
Mr Dufficy said 60 of the machines were being installed at
US airports and, although US authorities would not say where, it
was "safe
to assume it would be at major airports, including New
York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco".
He said the CTX 5000 had a preliminary "look" at every
item of checked luggage with an x-ray and then examined a thin
section of the
contents of each bag with a "very thin, high-energy beam"
from the CAT scan. If anything in the bag seemed suspicious, it
would
continue scanning.
Mr Dufficy said PIMA's warning applied to print film which
was used by the vast majority of travellers. His association
planned to
conduct tests on the effects of the CTX 5000 on slide and
movie film.