From Carrot Knife To Laser Pointer, Laser Safety Should Not Be Ignored!

Some time ago, in the elementary school campus, there is a popular toy known as "turnip knife". Don't look at the name with a "knife" word, in fact, the carrot knife is just a plastic imitation knife toys, through its own gravity can realize the knife body sliding. The texture of the soft, compliant products will also be chamfered, the product surface rounded, even stabbing apples are very difficult, the probability of stabbing people is even lower.
Turnip knife and laser pointer danger compared to that is a small thing. The so-called laser pointer is a portable small laser transmitter, made in the shape of a pen, embedded in a solid-state laser that emits red or green light.
This laser pointer was originally used to indicate the direction, emit signals, etc. However, on campus, laser pointers are also used as toys. Due to the laser's high collimation, high energy characteristics, injury to the human eye in countless cases.
Chenchen (a pseudonym), who lives in Wuhan, is 8 years old. Starting a month ago, Chenchen felt that his vision seemed to have some problems, seeing things a little blurred, and there is always a fixed black spot in front of his eyes, his family guessed that Chenchen may have some myopia, so they took Chenchen to Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital Hanyang to do an eye examination. The examination found that the right eye vision 1.0, left eye vision 0.5, the left eye macular area in the center of the visible foci of the outer retina fracture, photoreceptor cells are damaged, the hospital director of fundus disease Li Xin judgment based on experience, should be burned by the bright light.
How did the macular burn come about? In Li Xin's communication, Chen Chen told the truth: a month ago, Chen Chen accidentally turned over a laser pointer at home, feel very novel, and small partners with a laser pointer constantly irradiate objects, especially also irradiate each other's eyes. At that time, the eyes did not have any special feeling, however, after a while, Chen Chen found himself in front of the eyes always have a black spot, see things can not see clearly.
Unfortunately, the irreversible damage to the retinal cells of Chenchen's retina has been caused, and the vision of his left eye cannot be restored at this stage.
Similar cases have been common in recent years. As the human eye lens is similar to the structure of the lens, once the laser irradiation into the human eye, even if only a short period of one or two seconds, it is very easy to cause serious damage to the macula of the retina, resulting in decreased visual acuity, dark vision, deformation, etc., and most of them are irreversible visual damage.
From "turnip knife" to "laser pointer", laser safety should not be ignored!
How to determine whether a laser pointer is compliant? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards categorize laser devices into five classes, Class I through Class IV.
Class I laser products are not biohazardous. Any beam that may be viewed is shielded and the laser system is interlocked during laser exposure.
Class II laser products have an output power of 1 milliwatt. They do not burn skin and do not cause fire. Since eye reflection prevents some eye damage, these lasers are not considered hazardous optical devices.
Class IIIa laser products have an output power of 1 mW to 5 mW. They do not burn the skin. Under certain conditions, these lasers can cause blindness and other damage to the eyes.
Class IIIb laser products have an output power of 5 mW to 500 mW. At higher powers, these laser products are capable of burning the skin. These laser products are clearly defined as hazardous to the eyes, especially at higher power levels, and will cause eye damage.
Class IV laser products have an output power greater than 500 milliwatts. These laser products are definitely capable of causing eye damage. Just as they burn skin and ignite clothing, they are also capable of igniting other materials.
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) classifies lasers according to their output power, from Class1, Class2, Class3 to Class4, of which, laser products for children's toys must meet the Class 1 requirements; while laser pointers, laser measuring devices, tools with laser indication and other products that can be accessed or used by ordinary consumers, their class Class 2, not higher than Class 3.
Therefore, laser pointers on sale in the market are generally only suitable for such purposes as instructions and teaching, and are not suitable for use by children as toys. We look forward to strengthening the regulation and standardization of the market of laser pointers, and clearly marking the classification and usage on the package. At the same time, we also expect schools and parents to be more vigilant and guide students not to buy laser pointers as toys.