Cheap, imported laser pens are powerful enough to permanently blind unsuspecting onlookers
- Research team found poorly made laser pens that could blind people
- The extremely dangerous pointers can be bought legally for £20
- Recommendations for government to instill serious quality control
Daily Mail Reporter
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Cheap, imported laser pens are powerful enough to permanently blind unsuspecting onlookers – not just airline pilots.
Laser pointers bought legally for less than £20 can damage eyesight permanently – with one pointer found to be 127 times more powerful than the legal limit.
The research team found that imported laser pointers were poorly made, with manufacturers skipping installing infrared-blocking filters to hold down costs and in turn making the devices more dangerous.
Cheap, imported laser pens are powerful enough to permanently blind unsuspecting onlookers – not just airline pilots
RMIT University researchers in Melbourne, Australia, discovered green lasers were most harmful, with all four models tested failing government standards and prompting calls for an outright ban.
In the meantime, they are recommending authorities to implement stringent testing and quality control.
Dr Kate Fox, a senior lecturer in RMIT’s School of Engineering, said the laser pointers could be bought by anyone, including children, over the counter or online.
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She said: ‘All the green laser pointers we tested were from 51 to 127 times over the 1 milliwatt government safety limit.
‘At that upper level, the beam would cause catastrophic retinal damage.’
Dr Fox, working with RMIT ophthalmologists, Adjunct Associate Professor Marc Sarossy and Alfred Hospital doctor Matthew Hao Lee, tested four models of green laser pointer and four models of red.
Laser pointers bought legally for less than £20 can damage eyesight permanently – with one pointer found to be 127 times more powerful than the legal limit
Professor Sarossy said three of the four red models were within safety limits, but that the green lasers were seriously harmful.
He said: ‘There can still be some risk, but our normal response to visible light is to blink and turn away – and that’s usually enough to avoid any permanent damage.
‘But green lasers produce much more infrared radiation, which does not trigger our natural blink and aversion responses.
‘Green lasers also produce a much more focused spot than red lasers, with a higher risk of damaging the retina.’
The findings were presented at the IEEE Engineers in Medicine and Biology Society conference in Orlando, Florida.
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