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Author Topic: Why do IB prints smell so bad? Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-25-2002 01:57 AM                        Nitrate tends to have what I'd call a somewhat musty/acrid smell to it - I'd always assumed this was the nitric acid in the base itself (just as the 'vinegar' in vinegar syndrome is acetic acid in acetate). I haven't noticed any significant difference between nitrate IB and nitrate b/w. As for transporting the stuff, this is a major headache, even for archives. Legally, nitrate film is covered by our Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 1999, which is an amendment to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This places legal restrictions on handling, storage and transport. The last time we had to send some down to London for duping, two couriers refused to take it altogether, and the third took a long time about it and charged us quite a bit. Here it is illegal under the H & S Act to carry any nitrate on public transport (maximum penalty is an unlimited fine and up to five years in jail) and you are almost certainly invalidating your motor insurance if you move it by private car. I did once check with my insurer about this when collecting four reels of nitrate from a depositor: they wanted £80 just to extend my third party, fire and theft insurance to cover one single journey from Sunderland to Newcastle (12 miles) with about 3,500 feet of nitrate in the boot. That was ridiculous, IMHO, because that car also had 60 litres or so of petrol in it, which is every bit as dangerous as the nitrate but yet they don't charge you an extra premium for filling your tank up. We ended up using a courier firm who shall remain nameless, which delivered the reels using a motorbike!  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 11-25-2002 08:34 AM                        Here is Kodak Publication H-182 "Safe Handling, Storage, and Destruction of Nitrate-Based Motion Picture Films": Handling Nitrate Film  |  IP: Logged Jeffry L. Johnson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 809 From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 11-25-2002 09:11 AM                        The last time I ran a nitrate feature (about 15 years ago, 2000' changeover, one projectionist per projector) the print was shipped via FedEx. The shipping cans had "Explosive" labels.  |  IP: Logged

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