Tracerlab Film Badge (late 1940s, 1950s)

As can be seen from the photograph, this particular film badge was made by Tracerlab of Boston Massachusetts. It is made from stamped tin and it contains a single film packet (Dupont 552). The film is coded 092655 and 222A6 R. There is no date.

The filtration consists of a sheet of lead folded over one end of the film and a sheet of cadmium folded over the other end. This is odd, because as best as I can determine, the standard Tracerlab film badge from the 1950s came with a single cadmium filter folded over the bottom portion of the film and no lead. For X-ray work, a copper step wedge would have been used instead of the cadmium. Two references from 1955 and 1958 indicate that the Tracerlab badge came with two film packets. The sensitive film reported gamma doses from 0-2 R while the less sensitive recorded doses up to 30 R. On the other hand, the February 1955 issue of Nucleonics indicated a recordable exposure range of 20 mR to 50 R. The Nucleonics article also indicated that the Tracerlab film badge had a beta dose response range of "30 mrep to 80 rep."

Size: 1.5" x 2"

Donated by Ron Kathren.