New Threat to Shipping Turtles in the Mail – Irradiation

FYI, We used to only worry about the temperature of the truck when we shipped out hatchlings in the mail. But now we have a new problem – irradiation. Here in the Wash.,D.C. area the Postal Service is installing high voltage electron beams to irradiate the mail. Eight of these machines will be delivered to the Postal Service in early November. The machines are made by Titan Corp. and currently are used for irradiating hamburger meat to kill the bacteria. The Postal Service intends to use these same machines to irradiate the mail but for an exposure 10 times that used to sterilize hamburger meat in order to kill Anthrax spores. Already a consumer organization called “Public Citizen” has voiced concern about the effects of this in the shipment of live animals, ie., bees, etc. USA Today (Oct. 30, pg. 4A) has an article about it. I was thinking that being under a Titan Corp. high voltage electron beam is no place for a hatchling in a margarine tub. Please enquire before you ship those hatchlings, Thanks, Bob