Silver recovery from x-ray film is an industry that has sprung up due to the need of medical practices to properly dispose of outdated medical x-rays. Rather than pollute the environment by tossing x-rays in landfills, they are recycled. The silver that is used to make the film can be recovered and reused and the environment is spared the leaching of silver into the ground that ultimately pollutes ground water. The medical practice is compliant with the HIPAA rules and regulations as well. A recycler, Industrial Surplus Inc. provides medical practices with an excellent resource for disposal of their accumulated old x-rays.
All x-ray film must be completely destroyed to meet the HIPAA guidelines. It is the job of recovery companies to guarantee the complete destruction of all material. Having x-rays recycled is one way to guarantee this destruction. In order to obtain the silver the film must be destroyed. Recycling removes the silver content by several different means, but all of the means result in the total destruction of the x-ray. Approximately 18 grams of silver is the most that can be obtained from a single x-ray film. This is a little more than one half of a troy ounce of silver which is the unit by which silver sells.
A medical facility that wishes to dispose of x-ray film can use recycling as a means of freeing up space in the office, destroying outdated patient records and generating additional revenue. A dentistry can dispose of dental xray film and the same is true for every medical practice's x-rays including NDT film. Xray film recycling as done by a reputable silver recycler such as Industrial Surplus Inc., can relieve the burden of a medical practice to ensure that all personal medical data is completely destroyed.
Xray recycling eliminates some of the burden of operating a medical practice. The medical facility no longer has to provide refrigerated storage for large quantities of old x-rays and the x-rays are guaranteed to be destroyed according to HIPAA guidelines. Industrial Surplus's facility in Saint Louis, MO stands by its work and delivers the best quality destruction film and recovery of silver.
