[Alt-photo] Alt-pro chems through Airport Checked bags

[J. Jason Lazarus]

All -

I'm having a heck of a time getting decent VDB solution to mix from the chemicals that I recently brought back in checked bag from Bostick and Sullivan in Santa Fe and, because I'm searching for any explanation... 

... could the x-rays that a checked bag goes through alter or expose either Silver Nitrate, Tartaric Acid or Ferric Ammonium Citrate?

Perhaps a long shot, I don't know. I had asked staff at B&S prior to leaving if they had any reservations with me taking it back in that manner, and seeing none, I didn't give it a second thought... but after several unsuccessful attempts, I'm trying to figure out what it may be.

 I'm having a devil of a time mixing my own solution without having significant precipitate form and settle to the bottom of the brown bottle.  I've mixed three times, using the measurements out of Christina Z. Anderson's book, and have become even more scrutinizing each time.  This last time, I added all the mixtures exactly (with a very pricey contraption for reloading bullets), mixed with very hot water and even going so far to add the silver nitrate drop by drop via an eyedropper to insure I didn't add it too fast.

Within a day, I always end up with a eighth to a quarter inch of silvery sludge at the bottom of the bottle.  Prints, if created with freshly concocted solution, seem normal - but within a week, the exposure dramatically alters and the print quality falls off a cliff and looks poor and overwhelmingly grainy.  I've tried shaking the solution up, letting it rest and taking only the top of the solution (which is unnaturally clear compared to B&S's premix solution) and my prints are of a very poor quality and grainy - very much unlike anything I've experienced with B&S's premix.

Any clues?  Anything I'm missing?

Thanks.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I apologize in advance if there's something utterly sophomoric I'm missing.

J. Jason Lazarus