# Can a human or an animal EAT 35mm nitrate film stock (and live)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2024, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998 "2024-01-12T10:13:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/21 "2024-01-15T16:27:46Z")
[quote=“vbob, post:20, topic:995998, full:true”]Sorry - I worded my reply poorly. It is my own personal ignorance that I am fighting. This is an ongoing battle, with many proud victories, and many honorable defeats. As the Straight Dope’s motto indicates, it’s taking longer than I thought… [/quote]Go easy on the self-effacing! (And also, mistrust anyone who claims he knows all.) ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/22 "2024-01-15T19:33:46Z")
Put it in a salt water bath to extract the silver and then recycle the plastic. A cyanide bath would work faster, but it is not as easy to use or clean up. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/23 "2024-01-16T19:09:59Z")
After the silver has been removed, I’d be interested in seeing whether high-solids (greater than 2%) anaerobic digestion could make the remains nonflammable. Anaerobic digestion can degrade cellulose and lignin, and can consume nitrates. But there’s probably no studies that have been done on nitro-cellulose films. I’m pretty sure the film would need to be shredded before being used as feedstock, and that additional feedstock would need to be included to provide all needed nutrients to the microbial consortia. I also don’t know how dangerous shredding/curring the film would be. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/24 "2024-01-16T19:13:28Z")
If a studio is willing to fund a pilot digestion . . . ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/25 "2024-01-17T22:10:38Z")
[quote=“Yllaria, post:23, topic:995998, full:true”] After the silver has been removed, I’d be interested in seeing whether high-solids (greater than 2%) anaerobic digestion could make the remains nonflammable. Anaerobic digestion can degrade cellulose and lignin, and can consume nitrates. But there’s probably no studies that have been done on nitro-cellulose films. I’m pretty sure the film would need to be shredded before being used as feedstock, and that additional feedstock would need to be included to provide all needed nutrients to the microbial consortia. I also don’t know how dangerous shredding/curring the film would be. [/quote]Shredding wouldn’t be that bad. But the low amounts of silver are a problem, then? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/26 "2024-01-17T23:56:52Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > Shredding wouldn’t be that bad. But the low amounts of silver are a problem, then? I have no idea whether silver would interfere with the digestion or if waste contaminated with silver is considered to be toxic waste. Either could be a problem. If removing the silver is cheap and easy, I’d imagine that it might be worth removing, just for the salvage value. It’s running a little over $22 per troy ounce. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/27 "2024-01-28T16:22:27Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > waste contaminated with silver is considered to be toxic waste Absolutely - the art school I worked at finally shut down nearly all photographic and film processing because managing the silver recovery from students developing film was becoming unmanageable…also affects lots of X-ray processing and helped drive the switch to digital imaging [https://www.des.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt341/files/documents/2020-01/silver-recycling-disposal-dental.pdf](https://www.des.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt341/files/documents/2020-01/silver-recycling-disposal-dental.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998/28 "2024-02-03T22:44:26Z")
I once read about a movie director who liked to chew on scrap movie film. He ended up like the guy in the picture, with purple skin. I don’t know if it was temporary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-or-an-animal-eat-35mm-nitrate-film-stock-and-live/995998.md?page=1)