Post 9-11 the carriers,excluidng UPS, began to xray packages. Fedex still denies it, but there have been experiments which prove otherwise. The gov't actually bought some of the xray equipment for Fedex and the paperwork was posted on the web at one time, but it has diappeared (like many other things). I believe that shipping out internationally is less likely to be xrayed than shipping into the country, but I only have experience with domestic shipments so far. Because the irradiation kills all bacteria both good and bad, it ultimately causes an increase in mold because the mold is more virulent than the good bacteria. Everyone probably knows the rest of the ill-effects of radiation.