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Re: Environmental TLDs
Elizabeth,
Two problems: 1. The typical ziplock has very fine leaks where the "zip"
portion is fused to the body of the bag. 2. They are made of Polyethylene
and PE is rather hydrophilic. If you can find some polypropylene and a
heat sealer, making your own bags is not a bad way to go. (About $100-150
for the heat sealer and PP sheets are very cheap from a local plastics
supplier.) I think I even had some that were just commercial heat sealable
food bags (from PP) before I went in search of new stuff. Incidentally, PP
is the preferred (if you can't afford Mylar) plastic for storing comic
books in. Old PE bags tended to harbor water and help grow mold on lots of
comics stored in basements.
Kripes, I can't believe I still remember this polymer stuff. Nasty business.
Scott Kniffin
RSO Unisys Federal Systems, Lanham, MD
CHO Radiation Effects Facility, GSFC, NASA
mailto:Scott.D.Kniffin.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
The opinions expressed here are my own. They do not necessarily represent
the views of Unisys or NASA. This material has not been reviewed by my
manager or NASA.
At 09:23 10/09/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Radsafers,
>This is a very non-technical question, but I'll ask anyway:
>For those of you who are involved with an environmental TLD program, how
do you
>keep the TLDs dry while they are deployed? We currently use small zip
lock bags
>to hold the dosimeters and punch a hole into the top opening of the bag to
>attach it to a post (does not compromise integrity of the bag). However,
by the
>end of a monitoring quarter, a little water tends to accumulate in the bag
>around the TLD; at the very least, the labels are damp. The label affixed to
>the TLD by the vendor often becomes illegible. Any suggestions? Thanks.
>
>Elizabeth Algutifan, MS
>Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP)
>St. Charles, Missouri
>Elizabeth_Algutifan@wssrap-host.wssrap.com
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