Laser Pointers on the Skin

[[email protected]]

This is not about repair, but I thought someone on here might know.
Those little laser pointers that kids play with. What happens if you
shine them directly into your skin, such as a hand. Is that
dangerous? I know they use lasers for some types of plastic surgery
and I believe even to destroy cysts and stuff. I am sure those are
more powerful, but I still wonder about these pointers. One of the
kids keeps doing it, and said it makes the spot warm on their skin.
So I took the thing away from them. As a test, I pointed the thing at
a spot on my hand, and they are correct, it does make the spot warm.
That makes me more concerned about it.

PS. If my hand falls off, I will be sure to tell everyone. The things
parents have to do for their kids <lol>.

Mark

 

[TCS]

This is not about repair, but I thought someone on here might know.
Those little laser pointers that kids play with. What happens if you

Same thing indoor lights do. Put enough power to your skin and it might
get a bit warm.

 

[Graham]

Those little laser pointers that kids play with. What happens if you
shine them directly into your skin, such as a hand. Is that
dangerous?

No.

The only danger with these <1mW laser pointers is to the EYES
There will certainly be a warning to this effect on the packaging and
probably on the device itself.

The danger to the eyes does exist but IMHO often overstated in the case of
these low power units, as the normal blink reflex will protect the eyes.
However sometimes kids can do unpredictable things so maybe better to be
safe than sorry.



--
Graham.



%Profound_observation%

 

[NSM]

This is not about repair, but I thought someone on here might know. ....
So I took the thing away from them. As a test, I pointed the thing at
a spot on my hand, and they are correct, it does make the spot warm. ...

So does a 60 W light bulb.

 

[Ugly_Georges]

As long as there are no Ultra-Violet, shouldn't be a problem.
I would be sirprused you have a X-Ray Laser or Gamma Ray laer in your
garden ... )

Be totallay paranoid with the eyes and as well, otally paranoid with
halogen lights wich sometimes emits ultra violet wich may cause skin
and retin cancer.

brrrr .....

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

So does a 60 W light bulb.

As long as they keep it away from anyone's eyes, it is safe.
It's less tha 1/200th of a W.

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[[email protected]]

As long as there are no Ultra-Violet, shouldn't be a problem.
I would be sirprused you have a X-Ray Laser or Gamma Ray laer in your
garden ... )

Be totallay paranoid with the eyes and as well, otally paranoid with
halogen lights wich sometimes emits ultra violet wich may cause skin
and retin cancer.

brrrr .....

Thanks to all who replied. I did not think there was a danger to the
skin, but just wanted to be sure. I do know about the eyes, in fact
we like to play with our cats with this thing, but I told the kids to
never shine it in their eyes.

Your mention of the halogen lights is another issue. I often use a
halogen work light when I am working on the car or doing construction
outdoors at night. Just what are the limitations on distance and
wattage one should be aware of? I wont even get into the halogen
headlight issue, those damn blinding things to other drivers.....

Mark

 

[Dave]

As long as they keep it away from anyone's eyes, it is safe.
It's less tha 1/200th of a W.

I work at a CO2 laser company where I work with Class IIIa HeNe (red laser)
pointers that shows where the invisible CO2 beam is. They're about 10-30x
more powerful than that one your kids were using. It is not harmful to the
skin.

BUT

An AAA battery powered pointer will hurt an eye, if it is purposefully
shined on it. I don't differentiate class 1, 2 or 3 lasers when it comes
to my eyesight.

Eyesight is too important to let the FDA decide how long a laser can be
shot into an eye before it is damaged. Plus you don't know exactly what
laser you have.

http://www.vrac.iastate.edu/~heroje/574/lasersafety.htm

Dave

 

[NSM]

Thanks to all who replied. I did not think there was a danger to the
skin, but just wanted to be sure. I do know about the eyes, in fact
we like to play with our cats with this thing, but I told the kids to
never shine it in their eyes.

Your mention of the halogen lights is another issue. I often use a
halogen work light when I am working on the car or doing construction
outdoors at night. Just what are the limitations on distance and
wattage one should be aware of? I wont even get into the halogen
headlight issue, those damn blinding things to other drivers.....

If you are close enough that you smell meat burning - you're too close.

(I remember an exchange I had while installing the first terminals in an
office we were computerizing. Two women there grumbled about the dangers of
the monochrome monitors - then they both lit up their cigarettes).

 

[Asimov]

"Sam Goldwasser" bravely wrote to "All" (16 Feb 05 19:11:03)
--- on the heady topic of "Re: Laser Pointers on the Skin"

SG> From: Sam Goldwasser <[email protected]>
SG> Xref: aeinews sci.electronics.repair:10721

So does a 60 W light bulb.

SG> As long as they keep it away from anyone's eyes, it is safe.
SG> It's less tha 1/200th of a W.


One thing I've discovered about laser pointers is that the chip area
is purposely constructed so that it is impossible to collimate the
beam to make it into a dangerous device. What I think happens is that
there are multiple lasing areas which are slightly out of phase with
each other. When one tries to concentrate the beams onto a very tiny
spot they tend to subtract from each other and cancel out.

A*s*i*m*o*v

.... I worked hard to attach the electrodes to it.

 

[Dr. Anton T. Squeegee]

This is not about repair, but I thought someone on here might know.
Those little laser pointers that kids play with. What happens if you
shine them directly into your skin, such as a hand. Is that
dangerous?

Not in the least, as long as the laser power is in the <= 1
milliwatt range (most of the consumer pointers seem to be).

more powerful, but I still wonder about these pointers. One of the
kids keeps doing it, and said it makes the spot warm on their skin.
So I took the thing away from them. As a test, I pointed the thing at
a spot on my hand, and they are correct, it does make the spot warm.
That makes me more concerned about it.

You needn't worry. I have a similar pointer that I've shined on my
own hand for minutes at a time (as an experiment). It never gets more
than just warm, 'cause it doesn't have enough power behind it to do any
real damage.

Now, with that said -- Emphasize to these kids that these laser
pointers, though they may not be powerful enough to harm skin, WILL
cause permanent damage to eyesight. NEVER stare a laser in the eye,
period!


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

 

[Jerry G.]

There is absolutely no danger with these laser pointers. Infact, they have
been known to stop some types of irritations. They can also cause a cut to
heal faster. NASA has done some research of this type with these.

http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/975450257.html

http://chemistry.about.com/b/a/2003_11_30.htm

http://www.newstarget.com/001351.html

http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/SBIR/successes/ss/8-035text.html


--

Jerry G.
=====

This is not about repair, but I thought someone on here might know.
Those little laser pointers that kids play with. What happens if you
shine them directly into your skin, such as a hand. Is that
dangerous? I know they use lasers for some types of plastic surgery
and I believe even to destroy cysts and stuff. I am sure those are
more powerful, but I still wonder about these pointers. One of the
kids keeps doing it, and said it makes the spot warm on their skin.
So I took the thing away from them. As a test, I pointed the thing at
a spot on my hand, and they are correct, it does make the spot warm.
That makes me more concerned about it.

PS. If my hand falls off, I will be sure to tell everyone. The things
parents have to do for their kids <lol>.

Mark

 

[me]

[email protected] wrote in 4ax.com:

This is not about repair, but I thought someone on here might know.
Those little laser pointers that kids play with. What happens if you
shine them directly into your skin, such as a hand. Is that
dangerous? I know they use lasers for some types of plastic surgery
and I believe even to destroy cysts and stuff. I am sure those are
more powerful, but I still wonder about these pointers. One of the
kids keeps doing it, and said it makes the spot warm on their skin.
So I took the thing away from them. As a test, I pointed the thing at
a spot on my hand, and they are correct, it does make the spot warm.
That makes me more concerned about it.

PS. If my hand falls off, I will be sure to tell everyone. The things
parents have to do for their kids <lol>.

Mark

I find sunlight much more effective for warming...

 

[James Sweet]

This is not about repair, but I thought someone on here might know.
Those little laser pointers that kids play with. What happens if you
shine them directly into your skin, such as a hand. Is that
dangerous? I know they use lasers for some types of plastic surgery
and I believe even to destroy cysts and stuff. I am sure those are
more powerful, but I still wonder about these pointers. One of the
kids keeps doing it, and said it makes the spot warm on their skin.
So I took the thing away from them. As a test, I pointed the thing at
a spot on my hand, and they are correct, it does make the spot warm.
That makes me more concerned about it.

PS. If my hand falls off, I will be sure to tell everyone. The things
parents have to do for their kids <lol>.

Mark

A flashlight will make a spot warm on your skin, laser pointers are no more
dangerous than a bright flashlight.

 

[James Sweet]

Your mention of the halogen lights is another issue. I often use a
halogen work light when I am working on the car or doing construction
outdoors at night. Just what are the limitations on distance and
wattage one should be aware of? I wont even get into the halogen
headlight issue, those damn blinding things to other drivers.....

So long as the protective glass lense is in place you're ok, the glass
blocks virtually all the UV that passes through the quartz tube.

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

I work at a CO2 laser company where I work with Class IIIa HeNe (red laser)
pointers that shows where the invisible CO2 beam is. They're about 10-30x
more powerful than that one your kids were using. It is not harmful to the
skin.

Class IIIa can be anything up to 5 mW, just like laser pointers legal
in the USA. The typical dollar store laser pointer is 2 or 3 mW at 650 nm.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name is included in the subject line. Or, you can
contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

Not in the least, as long as the laser power is in the <= 1
milliwatt range (most of the consumer pointers seem to be).

Not sure where the original poster lives, but in the USA, <5 mW is
legal. Virtually all red pointers will be under 5 mW due to the
fact that the types of laser diodes used will be destroyed if pushed
to much above 5 mW. But green pointers can and often are, greater
than 5 mW by accident or by deliberate tampering.

For under 5 mW, definitely not a hazard to skin. But when you get into
the several 10s of mW, you'll feel it.

You needn't worry. I have a similar pointer that I've shined on my
own hand for minutes at a time (as an experiment). It never gets more
than just warm, 'cause it doesn't have enough power behind it to do any
real damage.

And most of that sensation was probably psychological, not real.

Now, with that said -- Emphasize to these kids that these laser
pointers, though they may not be powerful enough to harm skin, WILL
cause permanent damage to eyesight. NEVER stare a laser in the eye,
period!

Absolutely!

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name is included in the subject line. Or, you can
contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

 

[A man]

No they are relatively harmless, except they will do permanent damage to the
eyes. Keep the dot away from the face of any person or animal, including
aircraft. However, my dog loved to chase that little red dot around!

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

"Sam Goldwasser" bravely wrote to "All" (16 Feb 05 19:11:03)
--- on the heady topic of "Re: Laser Pointers on the Skin"

SG> From: Sam Goldwasser <[email protected]>
SG> Xref: aeinews sci.electronics.repair:10721



SG> As long as they keep it away from anyone's eyes, it is safe.
SG> It's less tha 1/200th of a W.


One thing I've discovered about laser pointers is that the chip area
is purposely constructed so that it is impossible to collimate the
beam to make it into a dangerous device. What I think happens is that
there are multiple lasing areas which are slightly out of phase with
each other. When one tries to concentrate the beams onto a very tiny
spot they tend to subtract from each other and cancel out.

Actually, in principle, the types of laser diodes used in pointers
can be collimated or focused to the diffraction limit. But it takes
more than a simple lens.

High power laser diodes are what's called "multimode" which are in effect,
a bunch of smaller beams side-by-side, and they are limited in terms of
collimation and focusing.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name is included in the subject line. Or, you can
contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

 

[Michael Black]

A flashlight will make a spot warm on your skin, laser pointers are no more
dangerous than a bright flashlight.

And how many of us didn't take a magnifying glass when we were kids and aim
the sun at hour hands. Done right, that can actually burn, but of course
we'd move the glass the second it hurt. No damage done.

Michael