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Postal Service selects
Titan to eradicate Bio-Threat in U.S. Mail.
High-Tech Productions to
conduct Media Testing with Titan.
Because the U.S. Postal Service is now irradiating mail to counter any
bio-terrorism threats, many companies and individuals have asked what
effects if any this has on video tapes and data disc's. Another
concern was if there would be any residual radiation left on the tapes and/or
packaging after the items were irradiated.
High-Tech Productions in
conjunction with Titan Scan Technologies, the company that irradiates the mail for the Postal
Service, have
teamed up to conduct numerous tests on
analog and digital video tape as well as floppy disks & CD/DVD Disc's.
The tests were done with the strictest
guidelines in place and using the latest in state-of-the-art
equipment.
Items that were tested:
1)
Hi-Grade T-120 VHS Video Tape
2) Pro Series ST-120 S-VHS Video Tape
3) Professional 60 minute Mini DV Digital Tape
4) 1.4 meg Computer Floppy Disc
5) Data / Music CD / CD-r
6) DVD Video Disc |
How the tests were
performed:
All items tested were subject to 1, 3
& 5
passes through the radiation equipment to simulate
packages that are sent
not only once, but several times through the mail system.
We did this under the assumption
that a tape or disc that was mailed from outside the United States
might get irradiated a few times. Once when the package arrives in
this country, once when it reaches a major postal distribution hub and
once when it reaches a local distribution center. Therefore a tape or
disc may get several doses of radiation before it even reaches it's
intended destination plus another dose (or doses) when the material is
returned through the mail to it's original sender.
All test items were given doses that
would simulate a mailed package being irradiated taking into
consideration weight, density, absorption, etc. The minimum dosage
was 60 KGy (Kilogrey's) of radiation. This is many times the lethal
dosage for any living organism (including humans). The maximum dosage
the test samples were subject to was 300 KGy of radiation.
All testing and calculations of
dosing was performed by technicians and nuclear engineers at Titan
Scan Technologies Corporation. The radiation dosage reports
are on file with High-Tech Productions and copies will be furnished
upon request.
All test items were individually shrink
wrapped.
This was to eliminate the possibility of any foreign materials
(dust/dirt, etc) from contaminating the specimens.
The test items were placed in a
standard size Postal Service Priority Mail box(s) when irradiated. This
was to simulate the normal packaging of items sent through the mail
service.
The floppy disc's and CD/DVD's were
tested by recording data on the disc's and checking them via computer
byte by byte against the original material as well as using
disk scanning software to check disk integrity and corruption.
The video tapes were evaluated and
checked using several pieces of test equipment including high
resolution monitors, computers, a
waveform monitor and vector-scope.
The following test signals &
patterns were recorded on the video tapes:
1) A seven-step gray scale signal
2) Full SMPTE color bars
3) A crosshatch pattern
4) A dot pattern
5) Stereo & mono audio test tones |
All items were checked for residual
radiation after the tests were completed.
This was to be sure that items mailed and irradiated would not
pose any danger to humans even after repeated high doses of radiation.
The Boca Raton HAZMAT department also checked each test item for any
traces of residual radiation after the test samples were returned to
High-Tech Productions.
The Test Results:
The items tested were checked and
rechecked to see how much (if any) data was lost or corrupted during
the radiation process. The results are as follows:
Score of: A
= No Effect on Sample, B
= Minor Effects, C
= All Data Lost
| Item
Tested |
Number
of Passes/Dose |
Test
Results |
|
Hi-Grade VHS Tape |
1
/ 60 kGy |
A |
| |
3
/ 180 kGy |
A |
| |
5
/ 300 kGy |
A |
|
Pro Series S-VHS
Tape |
1
/ 60 kGy |
A |
| |
3
/ 180 kGy |
A |
| |
5
/ 300 kGy |
A |
|
Professional Mini
DV Tape |
1
/ 60 kGy |
A |
| |
3
/ 180 kGy |
A |
| |
5
/ 300 kGy |
*
B * |
|
1.4 meg Floppy
Data Disc |
1
/ 60 kGy |
A |
| |
3
/ 180 kGy |
A |
| |
5
/ 300 kGy |
A |
|
650 meg
Data/Music CD |
1
/ 60 kGy |
A |
| |
3
/ 180 kGy |
A |
| |
5
/ 300 kGy |
A |
|
Video DVD |
1
/ 60 kGy |
A |
| |
3
/ 180 kGy |
A |
| |
5
/ 300 kGy |
A |
There were NO traces
of residual radiation
remaining on Any of the packages and test samples.
*
Although the test items did not appear to loose any data, the
packaging that they were in all came back slightly discolored from the
radiation.
For more
information about these tests, contact:
High-Tech Productions 800 662-8336
We would like to thank the
following companies
for participating in this
testing & research project:
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