Re: what's happening to Kodachrome.

[Tony <scope@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to Steve and Bob for their information about Kodachrome and cyanide.
 The interesting thing is that Kodachrome Super 8 film is still produced in
large amounts despite video having taken over the home movie market.  The
processing plant in America closed a year or so back, and now all the
Kodachrome movie film goes to Switzerland for processing.  I assumed when I
heard that the American plant had closed that it was purely economic, but
perhaps there was an environmental component to the decision as well.

Tony Andrews

At 12:01 PM 3/9/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>>>The residual is cyanide.  It was declared highly hazardous and Kodak was
>limited to two or three labs in the continental US in order to continue
>manufacture and development of this film, mostly due to the very particular
>resolving particularities and to the economic and political nature of the
>patent, I'm sure.
>
>
>There is a big Copper mining concern in Utah that uses Cyanide literally by
>the open boxcar load. Hundreds of tons of the stuff yearly. Certainly, if
>they can clean the effluent well enough, Kodak can do the same with the
>tiny fraction of the amount they might produce. I would be interested in
>learning where this story was reported.
>
>Incidentally, most any chrome plater uses cyanide in the plating baths.
>There are no laws saying that there can be only this or that number of such
>companies.
>
>I would be interested in any additional information you can point me to.
>
>Cheers,
>
>RM
>
>
>