Can Airport X-Rays Change a Diamonds Color?

[eyesoftexas]

To the experts out there.
I heard from a know-it-all colleague that the airport x-ray scanners can slightly change the color of a diamond and that color diamonds (Blue/Grey) are especially susceptible. He said that this is even truer with the airports new high density X-Ray scans they use for checked baggage (not that you would ever put your diamond in checked luggage). Is this true? And if it is could it also alter the color slightly of a white diamond?

 

[Inuyasha]

Hmm, I haven't really heard of this before, but I sure hope it isn't true! I remember reading that some other gemstones could be affected by the xray machines that the Post Office used to use when they had the anthrax scare, but I don't think natural diamonds were affected. If I remember correctly, things like Pearls and quartz were more affected. If you go to the GIA website, I think you could probably search for the article there.

 

[niceice]

This is a question for Marty Haske of Adamas Gemological - see the appraisers list at the top of the forum pages because he has done a lot of research in this area. However it stands to reason that the color of an irradiated colored diamond could be changed with further exposure to radiation since that is how the color was changed in the first place.

But hopefully nobody would check their jewelry in the first place because that would be just plain dumb! No offense! But that's like asking to be ripped off by the baggage handlers...

 

[wallace]

Nice Ice knows better than me - but I think, too, that's colour-treated stones that are affected. I have no idea about fracture-filling and drilling and all that - but the colour treated stones makes some sense. Maybe we should get M and Val. on it...

EDIT - Tex - maybe you could repost this on the coloured gem forum and see what reponse it generates?

 

[CaptAubrey]

in a word--no.

certain types of radiation can affect diamond color, but x-rays are not one of them. diamonds are largely transparent to x-rays. x-ray topography is a common method of studying diamond crystals.

 

[squirerad]

I concur with the capt. The radiation from an airport baggage scanner is probably equivalent to or slightly more than a modern, high dose multidetector CT or "cat" scan. Such cat scans are now being used daily on thousands of people for diagnostic imaging in medicine. And depending on the angle of the ering with respect to the direction of the xrays(if the diamond is set in a ring), the metal from the ering can shield much if not all of the diamond.

Those of you who have been under a cat scan now know why you had to take off all of your metal jewelry. The metal jewelry will block x-rays from reaching inside you. (The same idea holds true for wearing a lead apron over your "other" jewels for a simple x-ray).

 

[valeria101]

(I think this is the piece Inuyasha mentioned)

Someone tried it out: there is a GIA report on this which found that some stones were affected by the new and more intense machines set up recently (who said irradiated diamonds were among the 'changers' ?? ), but not natural diamonds. I doubt anyone set up a greenone for the test, althoughone can only wander, since the color of those has the same origin as the green in the irradiated ones.

www LINK to 2001 GIA article

 

[valeria101]

Gems under airport ZAP (GIA image from article linked above), before and after:

 

[sharonzhere]

 

[CaptAubrey]

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On 4/26/2004 11:33:55 PM valeria101 wrote:





Gems under airport ZAP (GIA image from article linked above), before and after:

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val, not quite. those gems were not run through an airport scanner (an x-ray machine) but a postal irradiator designed to destroy biological weapons. the two are not the same. you won't get results like that from an airport scanner.

right now, only mail to washington dc gets irradiated, and not even all of that.