Laser Safety Class

Laser safety consists of the safe design, laser use and switch of lasers to minimize the risk of laser accidents, such as eye injuries, skin hurt, light pollution and so on. It all because that even a small amount of laser light can lead to permanent eye injuries. Here are the a survey summarizes the various medical conditions caused by lasers at different wavelengths. The wavelength between 180nm to 315nm can cause inflammation of the cornea, as the sunburn. The wavelength between 315nm to 400nm caused photochemical cataract. The range from 400nm to 780nm give rise of photochemical change to the retina, retinal burn. The wavelength from 780nm to 1400nm makes cataract,, retinal burn. The laser from 1.4μm to 3.0μm are less common, be used in military or industry, this range may leads aqueous flare. As the range from 3.0μm to 1mm, this kind of laser will cause corneal burn. The above describe is about the hurt to eye, the skin is usually much less sensitive to laser light than the eye, but the excessive laser shoot can also cause the tiny or serious effect, especially the infrared laser. 

Class I  Inherently safe. It is impossible of eye damage. This is usually applied in CD player or laser printers.

Class II  Output power may be up to 1mW. This class includes only lasers that emit visible light but the infrared laser. Most laser pointers are in this category.

Class IIa  A region in the low powered end of Class II. The laser belong to this class requires in excess of 1,000 seconds of continuous viewing to produce a burn to the retina.

Class IIIa  The lasers are mostly dangerous in combination with optical instruments which change the beam diameter or power density. The direct contact with the eye for over two minutes may cause serious damage to the retina. Output power does not exceed 5mW. Many laser sights in military are in this category.

Class IIIb  Lasers in this class may cause damage if the beam enters the eye directly. This generally applies to lasers powered from 5-500mW. It can give rise to permanent eye damage within a second.

Class IV  Lasers belong to this class with the power of more tham 500mW will cause severe, permanent damage to eye and skin. This kind of laser are widely used in military, science, industry, and medical cure.

The mark of the safety class are usually marked on the surface to help you choose a safety laser pointer. In case, you need to buy a relieved laser products such as laserpointer, laser sight, laser alignment or others, you can have a surf in Highlasers.com whose products are all marked safety mark on the surface.