Imaging Solutions Announces Radiation Protection Testing Publication RadFacts

In line with our RadLabs initiative, a test laboratory designed to test radiation garments against various worldwide standards, Imaging Solutions proudly announces our RadFacts industry compliance reporting project.

With help from our consulting radiation physicist, Dr. John Laban and in association with RadLabs, Imaging Solutions will be routinely and frequently spot checking garments from various sources against the appropriate Australian and worldwide standards. The results will be published now and again in a report titled RadFacts.

As most radiation protection garments in Australia are imported from other countries such as USA, Europe and Asia, conformance to our own standards is generally an after thought. This, coupled with the fact there there are numerous worldwide standards for testing attenuation properties has resulted in a number of radiation protection garments not meeting Australian standards and the users of such aprons not even aware that this is the case. Worse yet, users expecting a level of lead equivalance are being provided garments that fall as low as 30% below the claimed amount.

Non-lead alternative material have now been around for years and most users of aprons expect a certain weight when wearing aprons. Over time, manufacturers have cut corners more and more, reducing the heavy metal content of the material a little bit more each time in an attempt to “out perform” their competition. This slipperly slope has led to massive over reporting of lead equivalence or rather, massive underperformance of radiation protection garments. The end result is a country where users refuse to wear heavier garments that actually perform and demand lighter garments that are not offering the level of protection expected.

Imaging Solutions is on a war path against industry non-compliance. It is our mission to offer Australia’s best radiation protection products and stamp out any competitors who are trying to cut corners and save on costs or garment weight by not complying with standards. It is for this reason that we recently launched an Australian-based manufacturing facility. To gain complete control over the production process and the quality of the product we market. It is the same reason we launched our RadLabs program to ensure we could routinely test our own raw materials and finished product to ensure the utmost compliance with the standards that we claim to conform to.

We have collected a large quantity of data during the past few years and feel it is our duty to the public to release this information for everyone to digest and interpret themselves. With this data, we feel that purchasers and, critically, users of radiation protection garments can see peak through smoke and mirror marketing and truly decide for themselves how much protection they really want to be wearing.

Watch this space for further information and the first edition of our RadFacts reports.