removing silver from x-ray film

i work at a surgery and we just moved to a new location. i asked my boss for the old, out of date x-ray film (have to keep it seven years).

i found (research and trial) that a bleach mix will remove the silver but it is a slow process. research but no trial yet showed that a lye (sodium hydroxide) solution will work too.

another process i found was to burn the film and put the ashes in nitric acid and then mix in other chemicals to get the silver. the problem with nitric acid is it is hard to get without the guys in the black suburbans coming to visit. nitric acid is the chemical needed to purify the silver to 999.

i have found a way to make the fake nitric acid by mixing Sulfuric Acid (drain cleaner) with Sodium Nitrate http://goarticles.com/article/How-To-Refine-Silver-Using-Household-Chemicals/732873/

any other ideals would be great.

Sounds like the process/chemicals would cost more than it would yield. Almost like removing steel belts from tires for the metal....

i work for a print company and have thought about doing this with our poly plates but never have. doesnt seem like ti would yield alot

Why not just trade the film for silver? that is what we do with our industrial x-ray film.

i bought a couple of one dollar bottles of bleach and soaked about a 100 sheets of film. the silver came off and fell to the bottom of the container. i strained it through a coffee filter and have collected little over a ounce of silver. it is a slow process but works.

working on a lye and water solution to make it a little faster. i need a 1.5 M solution and my daughter and i worked the numbers and will check with her chemistry teacher to confirm.

i have about 300 lbs of used film and 3 liters of filtered processor chemical sludge.

it would be easier to take it to a place but who can trust them and i like doing this kind of thing.

I do industrial xray. There are companies that will buy the film from you. Last time I checked it was 8 or 9 bucks per pound of film

The processor stuff your really need a reclamier for. It will reclaim the sliver from the chemicals. A lot of silver comes off the elmusion during the development process. Mainly reclaim the fix

8 or 9 bucks per pound is alot when you have 300 pounds..

Sounds pretty straight forward on the income you will make.