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Infrared lasers are not dangerous as they say?

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btc5

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Many of you says that infrared are more dangerous because it's invisible. Yesterday I talked with one guy who is selling lasers from some time and he told me that even 1W infrared laser is not as dangerous as 500mW green laser or blue one. I don't mean laser beaming you from 20cm, but from distance of several meters minimum. He said this is because infrared is mainly absorbed by black structures which our eyes don't have, so eyes reflects mostly of infrared radiation as white color does. However this does not append to visible lasers as they blind you at once forcing you to shut eyes as a normal reaction.
What do you think about that? He may be quite right, I personally haven't heard about any accident with IR laser, have you?, you have sticky topic about a guy hit with a blue laser but that was laser visible one. Any opinion appreciated.
 





Cyparagon

Cyparagon

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He is a tremendous moron, and is putting people in danger with his nonsense.

Even if that were true (and it's not, according to currently accepted MPE tables),
it's like saying "having a honeymoon at reactor 4 in chernobyl is safer than being mauled by a rabid polar bear"

btc5 said:
I personally haven't heard about any accident with IR laser, have you?
Click to expand...

I haven't hear about any accident involving rocket-propelled chainsaws. That must mean they're safe.

Firstly, MOST of the laser eye damage accidents in history have been from IR.
Secondly, how many people do you know with IR pointers to begin with?

btc5 said:
He said this is because infrared is mainly absorbed by black structures which our eyes don't have, so eyes reflects mostly of infrared radiation
Click to expand...

Uh huh :tired: A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I can play this game too: Gamma rays are mainly absorbed by lead. The human body has no lead, so gamma rays pass right through. This probably means Cobalt-60 is okay for colorants in condoms, right?
 
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HuangDeez

HuangDeez

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Cyparagon said:
He is a tremendous moron, and is putting people in danger with his nonsense.

Even if that were true (and it's not, according to currently accepted MPE tables),
it's like saying "having a honeymoon at reactor 4 in chernobyl is safer than being mauled by a rabid polar bear"



I haven't hear about any accident involving rocket-propelled chainsaws. That must mean they're safe.

Firstly, MOST of the laser eye damage accidents in history have been from IR.
Secondly, how many people do you know with IR pointers to begin with?



Uh huh :tired: A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I can play this game too: Gamma rays are mainly absorbed by lead. The human body has no lead, so gamma rays pass right through. This probably means Cobalt-60 is okay for colorants in condoms, right?
Click to expand...
That post was some A grade comedy.
But yes, infrared is as dangerous if not more than other lasers... please find appropriate goggles and take regular safety precautions for yourself and those around you.
 
ZRaffleticket

ZRaffleticket

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One thing you missed in that Cy...

"Some people can see into the IR spectrum a little bit (not everybody's eyes are exactly the same) Does that mean they're only capable of being blinded from an IR laser?"
 
00Giorge

00Giorge

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btc5 said:
Many of you says that infrared are more dangerous because it's invisible. Yesterday I talked with one guy who is selling lasers from some time and he told me that even 1W infrared laser is not as dangerous as 500mW green laser or blue one. I don't mean laser beaming you from 20cm, but from distance of several meters minimum. He said this is because infrared is mainly absorbed by black structures which our eyes don't have, so eyes reflects mostly of infrared radiation as white color does. However this does not append to visible lasers as they blind you at once forcing you to shut eyes as a normal reaction.
What do you think about that? He may be quite right, I personally haven't heard about any accident with IR laser, have you?, you have sticky topic about a guy hit with a blue laser but that was laser visible one. Any opinion appreciated.
Click to expand...
Kdo kdy řekl, že je skutečný debil, je-li někdo řekl, že nádivkou živé pískomil do prdele byla dobrá pro tebe věřili byste je?
 
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omnichrome

omnichrome

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ocularabsorption.jpg


Lasers in the visible and near infrared range of the spectrum have the greatest potential for retinal injury, as the cornea and the lens are transparent to those wavelengths and the lens can focus the laser energy onto the retina.

More information about the hazards of lasers you'll find on this site:
LASER HAZARDS (Princeton University)

Cheers
omnichrome
 
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Addonex

Addonex

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HuangDeez said:
That post was some A grade comedy.
But yes, infrared is as dangerous if not more than other lasers... please find appropriate goggles and take regular safety precautions for yourself and those around you.
Click to expand...

I would lean toward more dangerous, the fact that they are nearly invisible means your eyes will be far more dilated and you'll likely have no blink response if a beam hits your eye. Your retinas will be wide open to injury and you wont notice it until you feel it.
 
T

TheReddish

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Near Infrared Laser radiation in the near-infrared region of the
spectrum aprox 700-1400nm is absorbed primarily within the retina. An ideal
eye can focus a collimated near-infrared beam by as much as 100,000
times. This portion of the spectrum is a very dangerous area. The eye will
focus the energy, but it is not visible and thus creates a very dangerous
situation.

So you should smack this dude in the head that told you that, I can forgive ignorance but to spread false knowledge that causes harm is unforgivable.:gun::gun:
 
Benm

Benm

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Near IR is indeed as dangerous as, and ofter even more dangerous compared to visible light of equal power focus.

There may be some truth to longer wave IR being less dangerous though: If you take, for example, the light from a CO2 laser at 10.6uM, this would not be as dangerous as visible light to your eyes as visible light is.

Given the choice i'd rather be exposed to 50 mW of 10.6u then 50 mW of 532nm, though this is not without danger: Longer IR (and microwaves for that matter) do heat up the cornea. They would also burn skin, but the cornea is much more sensitive to thermal damage as it has no circulation to cool it.
 
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