Laser Buster Eyewear

[rcmannix@uci.edu (Richard C. Mannix)]

I recently received a catalog of laser safety eyewear from a distributor in
Taiwan called Yung Lih Optical Company. This company sells a decent variety
of what it terms "Laser Buster" eyewear at very reasonable prices.

All of their laser safety spectacles (as opposed to goggles) are sold for
$40 US. This includes spectacles for use with Nd:YAG lasers (optical density
of 5+ at 850-1120 nm) and ruby/HeNe lasers (optical density of 5+ at 610-720
nm). The $40 price seems to undercut the prices of most US suppliers,
including Uvex, Elvex, Kentek, etc.

The only specification listed for the "Laser Buster" eyewear which seems to
be unusual to me is that the visible light transmissions (VLTs) are
relatively low (15% for the Ruby/HeNe spectacles mentioned above; other
spectacles also have low VLTs).

My concern is that the eyewear distributed by Yung Lih may not be subjected
to the same level of scrutiny/testing/quality control as are laser safety
spectacles sold by US companies. The catalog indicates that Yung Lih's
eyewear has been "certified by Big Sky Technology, Inc., USA".

If anyone else has experience with the eyewear sold by Yung Lih, I would
appreciate hearing about it.

Price has always been a major issue when individuals on my campus purchase
laser eyewear, which can be quite pricey. However, I don't want to recommend
that they purchase eyewear which is not capable of doing the job advertised.

By the way, Yung Lih can be reached at the following email address:
yungco@ms4.hinet.net

Thanks.

Rick Mannix
Health Physicist
Univ. of Calif., Irvine
rcmannix@uci.edu