X-ray equipment

Audrey Yardley-Jones <conservation [at] museumsalberta__ab__ca> writes

>I have been contacted by a small, community museum that has an
>"x-ray shoe machine" in their collection and would like to know what
>its hazards are and whether they need to deaccession it.

We actually maintain an x-ray machine here at our college for doing
petrographic studies on lithics, ceramics, and geological samples.
There is, or so I have been assured, absolutely no radiation threat
when the machine is not running.  If the one you are to talk about
is to be run, it should be a fairly simple matter to add extra lead
shielding and have a physicist or chemist (perhaps from a local
college) actually check for radiation leakage.

As far as PCB threats and the like from the electrical equipment,
you would have to contact the manufacturer (if they still exist), or
perhaps contact a competent local electrician check it out (I think
even a TV repair specialist could also do this).

J. S. Illingworth
Analyst and Conservator
Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute
Erie, PA  16546
814-824-2581
Fax: 814-824-2594

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:30
               Distributed: Wednesday, November 17, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-13-30-006
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