From: Alektra at aol.com on 2001.10.29 at 03:39:42(7709)
I would suggest looking over the photography discussion groups and reading
about their members' plans to deal with mailing unprocessed film.
A company called Sima makes reasonably priced flexible film pouches lined
with lead, which are supposed to be widely available. Physicists may correct
me, but I believe anything that will beat x-rays will beat beta rays, which
is what these "electron beams" are. Note, I didn't say "cheap," I said
"reasonably priced," I seem to recall in the 3-5 buck range.
Talk about "The Effect of Beta Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Aroids" Or was that
"Gamma Rays on Marigolds..." LOL!
I agree with what has been said on the list; my guess is that for the next
few months, only the plant people mailing into or out of the vicinity of
Washington, DC will have anything to worry about anyhow. But I don't know how
people are going to ship food in metal boxes any more... granny's cookies in
care packages to college students, etc.
How do we know that UPS and FedEx are any "safer" for live tissue? For all we
know, they are setting up these electron beams, too.
This is all going to have to be dealt with, because there are too many people
sending live tissue through the carriers for everything to get nailed with
these beta rays-- not just our beloved aroids and other plants and seeds, but
medical test samples and of course tubes of bacteria and spores for
scientific purposes!
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