Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]That's the point. Nobody is trying to ban uses of silver, but they are trying to stop the discharge of the stuff into the water---they're two different things. It's nothing new, as the EPA and the state water pollution control people here have been talking to the labs for at least 15 years in an effort to promote silver recovery and cut down on discharges to the combined sewer sytem. Interest is silver recovery seems to fluctuate with the price of the metal---back when the Hunt brothers jacked up the price of the stuff in the early 1980's, it seemed like every photographer had a bathtub silver recovery operation on their back porch. But now, if you want to recycle fixer, you take it to the local X-ray lab, as they're the only ones with the economies of scale to make it pay for itself. Chuck Albertson Seattle, Wash. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lee, Jonathan" <Jonathan.Lee@hrcc.on.ca> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2000 9:17 AM Subject: RE: [Leica] US EPA silver heavy metal pollution laws to zap film/paper? > Shel Belinkoff wrote: > > From the Leica List. Thought it might be of some interest here, too. > > see http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/film.html#epa > > the claims that we will "always" have film and paper seems to run > counter > to the desire of the US govt/greens/epa to ban silver pollution > sources... > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - > > I wouldn't worry too much about silver being banned. The big reason is that > hospital radiology departments are ABSOLUTELY dependent on silver films for > X-rays. There are no inexpensive alternatives to film usage in hospitals. > Here in Canada, we are required to have a silver recovery unit for automatic > film processors. It's not a bad idea to have one of these for yourself if > you do a lot of silver stuff...after all anything you send down the sink > will end up in your own drinking water . Alternatively, you could send used > fixer to your municpiality's hazardous waste disposal (it's probably free!), > along with your old paint and used motor oil. > > Jonathan Lee >