Hello, I just registered because I'm trying to get some advice and learn more about laser safety.
My friends and I play frisbee at night using glow necklaces and an LED lighted frisbee. Normally, we use bike lights as endzone markers, but my friend wants to buy four 50mW green laser pointers, set them up about half a foot off the ground, and have the lasers outline the boundaries of the playing field (beams running parallel to the ground).
From my understanding, 50mW lasers can cause permanent eye damage from merely sweeping through someone's eye, which makes me think this is unsafe, but my friend tells me the lasers will sort of burn out after a minute and lower to a wattage that is safer.
It also seems like a lot of people online say these lasers shouldn't be in the hands of people inexperienced with lasers / shouldn't be used as toys, which also makes me worried because there would be about 20 of us in the area with these lasers, and they wouldn't even be held by anyone.
I'm also curious if this is even legal, because of laws about using them in public places. He plans to use them at an university in Massachusetts, and says since the campus grounds are private property, it would be legal, but I'm not sure that's how it works.
So, I'm wondering if this sounds like an unsafe use for these lasers, so I can let my friend know if he should go ahead and use the lasers or not.
My friends and I play frisbee at night using glow necklaces and an LED lighted frisbee. Normally, we use bike lights as endzone markers, but my friend wants to buy four 50mW green laser pointers, set them up about half a foot off the ground, and have the lasers outline the boundaries of the playing field (beams running parallel to the ground).
From my understanding, 50mW lasers can cause permanent eye damage from merely sweeping through someone's eye, which makes me think this is unsafe, but my friend tells me the lasers will sort of burn out after a minute and lower to a wattage that is safer.
It also seems like a lot of people online say these lasers shouldn't be in the hands of people inexperienced with lasers / shouldn't be used as toys, which also makes me worried because there would be about 20 of us in the area with these lasers, and they wouldn't even be held by anyone.
I'm also curious if this is even legal, because of laws about using them in public places. He plans to use them at an university in Massachusetts, and says since the campus grounds are private property, it would be legal, but I'm not sure that's how it works.
So, I'm wondering if this sounds like an unsafe use for these lasers, so I can let my friend know if he should go ahead and use the lasers or not.
