# silver content in x-ray film



## SAYYED (Nov 15, 2010)

Hello every one :
i'm new to this forum , and planning to start small business in extracting silver from x-ray film scrap in saudi arabia . 
i'm trying to gather required info to know the weight of silver in one kg of x-ray film scrap. 
i have searched the internet and found some information from kodak company in this links
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/documents/f9/0900688a800f80f9/J210ENG.pdf

this info says that in one sheet of washed film size 35*43 cm there is average of 0.012 troy ounce (= 0.37 gram)
( i checked weight of the same film sheet and found it 37 grams)
this means that there is about 1% of silver weight in washed x-ray scrap film . this info also accurately comply with the info from U.S.department of the interior on this link 
http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1196n/c1196n.pdf.

and also accurately comply with the info from this study from thailand
http://www.thaiscience.info/Article...ied to x-ray waste management in thailand.pdf

but now i'm confused after reading posts with a lot of different info from experienced people in this forum here 
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=7759&p=71515#p71515

could some one please shed light on this issue to explain reason of discrepancy and make things clear 
regards


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## Oz (Nov 16, 2010)

Especially on the topic of silver films, xrays, or otherwise, the best money you will ever spend is on GSP's book.

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=5810


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## goldsilverpro (Nov 16, 2010)

The figures in this chart are based on the results of the many 1000s of assays and silver recovery of a total of about 50 million pounds of all sorts of film. Any other information that disagrees with these figures is wrong.
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=7361&p

These are US figures. I have seen a few lots of x-ray film generated in 3rd world countries that ran slightly higher, on the average. This may be due to some of the older types of film still being used.

In the 70s or 80s, Kodak published a very complete booklet of the values of all types of film. However, these values never seemed to coordinate that closely with the actual recovery values.


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## SAYYED (Nov 16, 2010)

goldsilverpro said:


> The figures in this chart are based on the results of many 1000s of assays and silver recovery of a total of about 50 million pounds of all sorts of film. Any other information that disagrees with these figures is wrong.
> http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=7361&p=66841&hilit=litho+goldenrod#p66841
> 
> These are US figures. I have seen a few lots of x-ray film generated in 3rd world countries that ran slightly higher, on the average. This may be due to some of the older types of film still being used.


Thanks for commeting on this thread . and please excuse me for my question that may looks stupid , my question is , is the figures in your chart for the virgin films or is it for the washed scrap films.
thanks again .


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## goldsilverpro (Nov 16, 2010)

SAYYED said:


> goldsilverpro said:
> 
> 
> > The figures in this chart are based on the results of many 1000s of assays and silver recovery of a total of about 50 million pounds of all sorts of film. Any other information that disagrees with these figures is wrong.
> ...



In the chart, I only listed the undeveloped (green, virgin) values for the very common rare earth film. Probably, 98% of all the non-Dryview type developed x-ray film I saw was rare earth. For the older x-ray films, I would guess the virgin values to be about 1.8 to 2 times the average developed values. The reason the values for older virgin film isn't listed is because it never showed up.

Please note that these are average values for developed film. Individual sheets can vary tremendously. For example, chest x-rays are usually much less black and the silver content can be much less than the average. The average value for developed rare earth film is very close to 0.1 tr.oz./pound. However, individual sheets can vary from about 0.06 to 0.14 tr.oz./pound.


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## SAYYED (Nov 16, 2010)

goldsilverpro said:


> SAYYED said:
> 
> 
> > goldsilverpro said:
> ...


Thanks allot for explanation , the confusion was because i thought all the figures was for undeveloped films,
things now are clear .


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## goldsilverpro (Nov 16, 2010)

> Thanks allot for explanation , the confusion was because i thought all the figures was for undeveloped films,
> things now are clear .


Since I didn't spell that out in the chart, I can understand the confusion. Except for the last entry, all listings under Medical x-ray are for developed film.


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## Gold (Nov 16, 2010)

I wish i could somehow download all the knowledge that Chris has amassed over the years of his refining. Not to knock anybody else of course. Each one of us have our specialized fields we practice, but Chris's experience both in the lab as well as outside the lab in the field just amazes me sometimes. The stories that are told on this board are just as real and interesting as the science we study here. . Hats off to our group of moderators for sharing their stories and experiences as well as their sacrifice of time for this forum. The knowledge shared and learned here is a testament to the dedication and resolve of not only the moderators, but that of the members here also. Makes me proud to be a member here. 8) 

Meow !


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## butcher (Nov 19, 2010)

Gold, you can download a good portion of his expierience, and it is well worth the small price He ask's for it. get GSP's book, he also gives a collection of his posts here over the years, that is if Chris still has it available.


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## meatheadmerlin (Jan 20, 2017)

The link in the original post to the study from Thailand is broken.
The study is titled: Policy concept applied to X-ray waste management in Thailand

I found this replacement link that gives the abstract of the paper
as well as a number of current links to the pdf file.
http://citeweb.info/20061497122


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## rickbb (Jan 20, 2017)

Silver bearing x-ray film has become obsolete. Almost all x-rays are digital now days. Very few places still do the old rare earth film method.


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## fonnie (Jan 22, 2017)

in the Industrial Non Destructive testing bussiness, digital xray is not yet common, so silvercontaining Film is still widely used.

In medical applications I think digital is indeed the most used technique, and film is indeed becoming obsolete.

best regards

Fonnie


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