Ethan Switch - Wednesday, 27 August 2003
Heightened paranoia of worldly fears have done to airports what underfunded hospitals could not implement, numerous high intensity X-ray machines. Scanning passengers for signs of terrorist materials and such these systems have also done to holiday snapshots what the humble thumb has been doing for years, ruining photos. As passengers pass through the detectors and avail themselves to the new kind of probing, their luggage will be victim to the rays, in particular, the unprocessed film.
"A growing number of airports are installing high intensity X-ray scanners to inspect check-in luggage for security reasons" said Clare Rae, Kodak's marketing manager. "These newer systems will damage unprocessed film, which will not be seen until the pictures are developed. The same holds true for single use cameras."
Signs have started popping up in airports telling passengers that they should shunt their films into the hand luggage as the scanners used for those are considered safe for most types of film. People are also being advised that the best way to avoid unnecessary anguish is to develop the photos before passing through airport security.
Those of the fluctuating minority, who still like to pack explosives when boarding planes, should take this as a sign of possible innovation. Just how creative can a terrorist get with the related materials of a camera and the film canisters?