Laser Pointers Can Damage Your Eyes
If you’ve ever held a laser pointer and wondered if it was safe to look directly into the light, the short answer is... No! Shining a laser beam directly into your eye can cause permanent damage. Laser pointers are hand-held devices that produce a focused beam of colored light. These pointers are often used by presenters to point to a particular item on a screen during a presentation.
Laser pointers are rated on the amount of light they produce which is measured in milliwatts (mW). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health requires that all laser pointers made in the U.S. must have a label showing the class rating for that device. The lower the number, the “safer” the pointer is considered to be. Most U.S. made laser pointers produce red light that is in the 3 to 5 mW range. This puts them in the Class 3 category.
Laser pointers that produce 5 mW of light can cause permanent damage to the eye. It is tempting to compare the 5 milliwatt laser to the much higher 60 watt light bulb, but that comparison is not appropriate. Light bulbs are rated on the amount of power they use, not on the amount of light they produce. In addition, light bulbs produce light in all directions which diffuses the power of the light entering the eye. The further away from a light bulb you are, the less of the total light output you actually see from that bulb, which is why light bulbs appear brighter when you are closer to them. Laser pointers produce a narrow band of concentrated light. Looking directly into a laser pointer allows the entire output of the laser’s energy into the eye.
Laser pointers that are brighter than those allowed by U.S. regulations are available for sale on the internet. These pointers present serious risks to vision by causing permanent damage to the retina. The retina is the inside lining of the eye that receives light images and transforms them to electrical signals that can be sent to the brain. Damage to the retina can cause blind spots to develop in one part of the eye, or can cause complete blindness in one eye.
The most likely result of looking into a laser light is flashblindness.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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