ENDED Rollers and Stainless Steel

2feathers Creative Making

Member
Full Member
Messages
5,046
Reaction score
6,557
Location
Crossville Tennessee
First name
Frank
If this is from the developing room, the only radiation should have been from the exposed films. The developing room is usually lead lined as are all the walls of the x ray room normally in set ups old enough to need developing rooms. My grandfather was x ray tech and lived to be 84. And no cancer didnt get him, alzheimers did. I doubt there would be harmful levels but you could always find a friend with a Geiger toy and check if you were using them in a sensitive area.

Most of us have "that" friend amongst our acquaintances...
 

DLJeffs

Member
Full Member
Messages
4,336
Reaction score
10,080
Location
central Oregon
First name
Doug
There's probably an app for your smartphone that turns it into a geiger counter. Seems like there's an app for everything these days, most of them pretty useless. Why hasn't somebody invented usefull apps like a "fetch me a beer" app or the "wash my truck" app or the "turn my phone into an orbital sander" app?
 
Last edited:

Mr. Peet

Member
Full Member
Messages
7,176
Reaction score
7,771
Location
northeastern PA
First name
Mark
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #26
I'll see if I can get it tested before moving ahead. Thank you to all that chimed in.
 

Karl_TN

Member
Full Member
Messages
1,986
Reaction score
2,903
Location
Rosemark TN
First name
Karl
X-ray radiation should only occur while the X-ray machine is actively running. Otherwise the x-ray equipment would keep exposing healthcare workers and techs to radiation, and I doubt OSHA would allow this. Even though radiation might not be a problem here, breathing any dust while turning is bad for your health. Also, using these as outfeed rollers would produce no plastic dust.
 

Mike1950

Founding Member
Founding Member
Full Member
Messages
26,954
Reaction score
38,254
Location
Eastern Washington
First name
Mike
X-ray radiation should only occur while the X-ray machine is actively running. Otherwise the x-ray equipment would keep exposing healthcare workers and techs to radiation, and I doubt OSHA would allow this. Even though radiation might not be a problem here, breathing any dust while turning is bad for your health. Also, using these as outfeed rollers would produce no plastic dust.
Maybe but the $ saved probably not worth the risk in my opinion.
 

Karl_TN

Member
Full Member
Messages
1,986
Reaction score
2,903
Location
Rosemark TN
First name
Karl
Maybe but the $ saved probably not worth the risk in my opinion.
Your question was an interesting thought, but according to several government sources there’s no residual radiation risk unless it’s coming from the X-ray tube while it’s energized. These rollers look like part of a film processor so the rollers might need a good cleaning. Nothing that I would be worried about since they look pretty clean. Just saying there’s no radiation hazards with x-ray equipment just in case someone else is wondering. Ref:https://dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub2502.htm
 

Mike1950

Founding Member
Founding Member
Full Member
Messages
26,954
Reaction score
38,254
Location
Eastern Washington
First name
Mike
Your question was an interesting thought, but according to several government sources there’s no residual radiation risk unless it’s coming from the X-ray tube while it’s energized. These rollers look like part of a film processor so the rollers might need a good cleaning. Nothing that I would be worried about since they look pretty clean. Just saying there’s no radiation hazards with x-ray equipment just in case someone else is wondering. Ref:https://dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub2502.htm
:) I was self employed for 25+ years- you assume government is on top of this. Me.... I will pass.... I live in state that has hanford- first Nuke facility - facts have changed here yearly....
Not worth the risk- you save how much.........?
 

vegas urban lumber

Member
Full Member
Messages
2,874
Reaction score
3,797
Location
las vegas
First name
trev
i have scrapped the xray machines used for baggage inspection before. they are very thinly lead lined and produce xrays inside the machines for tens of thousands of hours over their life span. I had them inspected with a Geiger for radiation at the time of disposal, they did not produce even the slightest blip on the Geiger. i'm reasonably sure those rollers are completely harmless
 

Mr. Peet

Member
Full Member
Messages
7,176
Reaction score
7,771
Location
northeastern PA
First name
Mark
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #32
Whenever you get a chance is good with me Mark, thanks.
So the rollers showed no reaction, nor did the stainless steel. I was just told the x-ray film machine that these rollers are from was in a different room than the actual imaging machine. So the only radiation would be any that leaked (made it beyond the lead walls), from cell phones or if any is produced when developing film.

So, am I filling a medium box for you?
 

Tony

Hardwood Enthusiast
Staff member
Global Moderator
Full Member
Messages
20,472
Reaction score
27,468
Location
San Antonio, TX
First name
Tony
So the rollers showed no reaction, nor did the stainless steel. I was just told the x-ray film machine that these rollers are from was in a different room than the actual imaging machine. So the only radiation would be any that leaked (made it beyond the lead walls), from cell phones or if any is produced when developing film.

So, am I filling a medium box for you?
Yes please, thanks Mark.
 

Mike Hill

Board Whoarder
Full Member
Messages
7,670
Reaction score
17,802
Location
Nashville, TN
First name
Mike
I am no radiophysicist or nuclearphysicist, but I be a corntractor who has built and demolished a number of x-ray (more correctly - Roentgen-rays) rooms, labs, suites (as well as some of the deep therapy and linear accelerator rooms for cancer treatments - ask me about the $1,000 per cy concrete sometime) and asked a number of "expert" and even used a geiger counter once on a demo of some big labs - just to be on the safe side (I had the lead lining of the rooms scrapped and used the $3K it earned to put on 2 bbq's for the workers - It was a sizable 21 story MOB project). Without going thru a long explanation, firstly, these rollers are said to be from an x-ray photo machine - would be more correctly called an x-ray film developing machine - very, very similar to the photo developing machines in all the drugstores, and big boxes before the widespread use of digital cameras. In fact, there is not all that much difference between B&W film and X-ray film. The film was exposed on the x-ray machine, and then transferred to the developing machine in a lead lined cassette.. Because the developing machine contains some undeveloped and partially developed film, it had to be shielded from the x-ray machine. They were usually in another room or behind a lead-lined partition. The only thing in the machine that would have been exposed to the x-rays would be the film - and that brings on the second point. Diagnostic X-rays don't make things radioactive. An x-ray tube is like a light bulb: when you turn it off, the light stops. This is true for a plain x-ray, for a CT scan, and even for a radiation therapy machine: when the tube is turned off, the radiation is gone. It does not persist in the body; you will not be exposing anyone else if you come near them, and you will not set off a Geiger counter if you walk by it. That's not to say the tissues aren't reacting while the machine was turned on, they are and it takes some time for that reaction to finish. The effects of radiation therapy could continue to evolve over several months with some of the very strong "radiation" therapies, but that’s not because the radiation persists; it’s because; it’s because the tissues are reacting to biochemical effects on the cells and molecules done while the machine was turned on.

An x-ray is ionizing radiation which is radiation strong enough to remove an electron from an atom. Radioactive means a nucleus that is unstable and decays by emitting nuclear radiation. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation that occurs due to a electrons changing energy levels. X-rays do not come from the nucleus and are not defined as radioactive.

On the other hand, there are imaging procedures and treatments which involve administering a mildly radioactive substance to a patient; and in that case, the radiation will persist in the patient’s body for a period of time. These are generally radioisotopes made by much, much more powerful energies - the kind produced by a cyclotron, for instance. Then certain elements are "turned into" radioactive isotopes for “nuclear medicine” studies. Totally different ballbark. You cannot turn off nuclear-derived radioactivity. i.e. if those rollers had been exposed to, say, a cycloton's beam - then that is a different story altogether.

X-rays consist of high frequency quantized photons. Visible light consists of the same quantized photons except at a lower frequency. They don’t hang around. They leave the x-ray room at 300,000,000 meters per second (ok approximately). Without shielding, those photons are past the orbit of the moon about a 1 1/3 second after you turn the machine off.

All in all, except for the possibility of chemical residue from the developing chemicals, I'd sleep next to the rollers and if all those are cleaned up then no problem.

BTW - CT, MRI, RIT, PET rooms have their own challenges to build.
 

vegas urban lumber

Member
Full Member
Messages
2,874
Reaction score
3,797
Location
las vegas
First name
trev
I am no radiophysicist or nuclearphysicist, but I be a corntractor who has built and demolished a number of x-ray (more correctly - Roentgen-rays) rooms, labs, suites (as well as some of the deep therapy and linear accelerator rooms for cancer treatments - ask me about the $1,000 per cy concrete sometime) and asked a number of "expert" and even used a geiger counter once on a demo of some big labs - just to be on the safe side (I had the lead lining of the rooms scrapped and used the $3K it earned to put on 2 bbq's for the workers - It was a sizable 21 story MOB project). Without going thru a long explanation, firstly, these rollers are said to be from an x-ray photo machine - would be more correctly called an x-ray film developing machine - very, very similar to the photo developing machines in all the drugstores, and big boxes before the widespread use of digital cameras. In fact, there is not all that much difference between B&W film and X-ray film. The film was exposed on the x-ray machine, and then transferred to the developing machine in a lead lined cassette.. Because the developing machine contains some undeveloped and partially developed film, it had to be shielded from the x-ray machine. They were usually in another room or behind a lead-lined partition. The only thing in the machine that would have been exposed to the x-rays would be the film - and that brings on the second point. Diagnostic X-rays don't make things radioactive. An x-ray tube is like a light bulb: when you turn it off, the light stops. This is true for a plain x-ray, for a CT scan, and even for a radiation therapy machine: when the tube is turned off, the radiation is gone. It does not persist in the body; you will not be exposing anyone else if you come near them, and you will not set off a Geiger counter if you walk by it. That's not to say the tissues aren't reacting while the machine was turned on, they are and it takes some time for that reaction to finish. The effects of radiation therapy could continue to evolve over several months with some of the very strong "radiation" therapies, but that’s not because the radiation persists; it’s because; it’s because the tissues are reacting to biochemical effects on the cells and molecules done while the machine was turned on.

An x-ray is ionizing radiation which is radiation strong enough to remove an electron from an atom. Radioactive means a nucleus that is unstable and decays by emitting nuclear radiation. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation that occurs due to a electrons changing energy levels. X-rays do not come from the nucleus and are not defined as radioactive.

On the other hand, there are imaging procedures and treatments which involve administering a mildly radioactive substance to a patient; and in that case, the radiation will persist in the patient’s body for a period of time. These are generally radioisotopes made by much, much more powerful energies - the kind produced by a cyclotron, for instance. Then certain elements are "turned into" radioactive isotopes for “nuclear medicine” studies. Totally different ballbark. You cannot turn off nuclear-derived radioactivity. i.e. if those rollers had been exposed to, say, a cycloton's beam - then that is a different story altogether.

X-rays consist of high frequency quantized photons. Visible light consists of the same quantized photons except at a lower frequency. They don’t hang around. They leave the x-ray room at 300,000,000 meters per second (ok approximately). Without shielding, those photons are past the orbit of the moon about a 1 1/3 second after you turn the machine off.

All in all, except for the possibility of chemical residue from the developing chemicals, I'd sleep next to the rollers and if all those are cleaned up then no problem.

BTW - CT, MRI, RIT, PET rooms have their own challenges to build.
i personally set off the radiation detector one time at the scale entrance at the scrap yard. i had had a medical heart stess test, (chemical induced), 2 days prior. the chemical radiation signature was enough to set off the drive through radiation detectors mounted on either side of 10 foot wide vehicle scale.
 

El Guapo

Member
Full Member
Messages
4,222
Reaction score
4,915
Location
Edmond, OK
First name
Andrew
I am no radiophysicist or nuclearphysicist, but I be a corntractor who has built and demolished a number of x-ray (more correctly - Roentgen-rays) rooms, labs, suites (as well as some of the deep therapy and linear accelerator rooms for cancer treatments - ask me about the $1,000 per cy concrete sometime) and asked a number of "expert" and even used a geiger counter once on a demo of some big labs - just to be on the safe side (I had the lead lining of the rooms scrapped and used the $3K it earned to put on 2 bbq's for the workers - It was a sizable 21 story MOB project). Without going thru a long explanation, firstly, these rollers are said to be from an x-ray photo machine - would be more correctly called an x-ray film developing machine - very, very similar to the photo developing machines in all the drugstores, and big boxes before the widespread use of digital cameras. In fact, there is not all that much difference between B&W film and X-ray film. The film was exposed on the x-ray machine, and then transferred to the developing machine in a lead lined cassette.. Because the developing machine contains some undeveloped and partially developed film, it had to be shielded from the x-ray machine. They were usually in another room or behind a lead-lined partition. The only thing in the machine that would have been exposed to the x-rays would be the film - and that brings on the second point. Diagnostic X-rays don't make things radioactive. An x-ray tube is like a light bulb: when you turn it off, the light stops. This is true for a plain x-ray, for a CT scan, and even for a radiation therapy machine: when the tube is turned off, the radiation is gone. It does not persist in the body; you will not be exposing anyone else if you come near them, and you will not set off a Geiger counter if you walk by it. That's not to say the tissues aren't reacting while the machine was turned on, they are and it takes some time for that reaction to finish. The effects of radiation therapy could continue to evolve over several months with some of the very strong "radiation" therapies, but that’s not because the radiation persists; it’s because; it’s because the tissues are reacting to biochemical effects on the cells and molecules done while the machine was turned on.

An x-ray is ionizing radiation which is radiation strong enough to remove an electron from an atom. Radioactive means a nucleus that is unstable and decays by emitting nuclear radiation. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation that occurs due to a electrons changing energy levels. X-rays do not come from the nucleus and are not defined as radioactive.

On the other hand, there are imaging procedures and treatments which involve administering a mildly radioactive substance to a patient; and in that case, the radiation will persist in the patient’s body for a period of time. These are generally radioisotopes made by much, much more powerful energies - the kind produced by a cyclotron, for instance. Then certain elements are "turned into" radioactive isotopes for “nuclear medicine” studies. Totally different ballbark. You cannot turn off nuclear-derived radioactivity. i.e. if those rollers had been exposed to, say, a cycloton's beam - then that is a different story altogether.

X-rays consist of high frequency quantized photons. Visible light consists of the same quantized photons except at a lower frequency. They don’t hang around. They leave the x-ray room at 300,000,000 meters per second (ok approximately). Without shielding, those photons are past the orbit of the moon about a 1 1/3 second after you turn the machine off.

All in all, except for the possibility of chemical residue from the developing chemicals, I'd sleep next to the rollers and if all those are cleaned up then no problem.

BTW - CT, MRI, RIT, PET rooms have their own challenges to build.
I was about to say the exact same thing.
 

Wildthings

ASTROS '23 ALCS CHAMPIONS runnerup
Full Member
Messages
8,902
Reaction score
13,993
Location
Gulf Coast of Texas
First name
Barry
i personally set off the radiation detector one time at the scale entrance at the scrap yard. i had had a medical heart stess test, (chemical induced), 2 days prior. the chemical radiation signature was enough to set off the drive through radiation detectors mounted on either side of 10 foot wide vehicle scale.
LOL I had the same experience. After radioactive iodine treatment as a follow up for my thyroid cancer, I was back at work and walking through the structure. I set the high level detectors off on our downstream columns. Luckily I heard the control room concerns on my radio and owned up to the problem!!
 

ClintW

Member
Full Member
Messages
772
Reaction score
1,028
Location
St. Paul, MN
First name
Clinton
I worked with/at NIST nuclear reactor and neutron source for a number of years through graduate school. To turn something radioactive other than through contamination from a radioactive source material, you would need a neutron emitting source, i.e. commonly from the decay products from a nuclear reactor to turn another material radioactive, neutrons colliding with nuclei of atoms can raise them to a radioactive isotope state.

A funny story about radiation alarms being set up though. One day we walked in with a banana after lunch and it set off the alarms. I had heard they carry enough potassium, a common naturally occurring radioactive element in the environment, to result in an above ambient environment radiation event. Was kinda funny, had heard they could do this, but first time to witness it. Had to do a whole quarantine check and throw my banana in the potential contamination bin to be cleared the next day, haha.
 
Top