diffuse refraction of green laser light hazardous?

[ev23]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the group and joined mainly to get some information I haven't been able to track down online anywhere. I'm wondering about the hazard of viewing diffuse laser light - not a diffuse reflection - but laser light diffused through a translucent medium. I'll do my best to explain concisely but with as much detail as possible.

I'm working with a 30mW 532nm 5v line module (iiiB)
if the laser module is placed so that it is directly against the left side of a translucent white rubber cube so that the entire object glows green, would it be safe to view the diffuse light from directly above? At this point there is no longer any focused beam, so it is my understanding the hazard will be the same as staring at any bright light source (aside from the wavelength of light, which green should be highly visible and pose less danger than 405nm or infrared as long as the laser has an infrared shield) Is this correct? Obviously one would not want to stare at this up close or for long periods of time but from a distance of a 2-3 feet away would this be hazardous? The beam is also perpendicular to the viewing angle so any light that was able to pass directly through would not be directed at the eye.



please let me know if you have any information about safety hazards in regard to this as well as any sources or material that you could refer me to that would help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Encap]

Stop spamming the forum or you will be banned

 

[ev23]

sorry! i didn't realize it was such bad etiquette to post the same post in multiple threads, wont happen again!

 

[ev23]

by the way was it you that posted this on the other thread that was deleted?

For comprehensive laser safety information see: Laser Pointer Safety - A comprehensive resource, for safe and responsible laser use (Laser Pointer Safety - A comprehensive resource, for safe and responsible laser use)

See good Laser Hazard Chart here: http://www.lasersafetyfacts.com/resources/FAA---visible-laser-hazard-calcs-for-LSF-v02.png

If so, Thank you! Theres a ton of useful information there and I've been reading through it, glad I copied the link before the post was taken down. The charts are especially informative
The issue I've had when looking for safety information with this project is that everything I'm finding is referring to the hazard from a direct beam or a reflected beam, but in the case I described above the beam is so scattered from passing through another material that it no longer has a focused beam and doesn't travel very far (at least visibly). It appears to act more like a traditional light source, casting a diffused glow (although extremely bright) and I can't seem to find anything referring to a similar situation other than articles talking about diffuse reflection, which I think is still significantly different than what is happening here.. If anyone has any idea how I would measure the beam divergence or at least an educated guess at what it would be in this situation then I would be able to use the equations in the links above to determine the risk and a safe viewing distance

 

[ArcticDude]

I deleted those.. Stop double posting..

 

[ev23]

My apologies, won't happen again! Didn't mean to cause any offense

 

[cyberdoc]

Arrrrgggh.....! :banghead:

-cd

 

[ev23]

Hey cyberdoc,
is that in response to this post or that I double posted?

 

[cyberdoc]

Hey cyberdoc,
is that in response to this post or that I double posted?

Hi ev23:

It’s just a gentle nudge to please follow the forum rules and netiquette. Your double posts were deleted by one of our Super Moderators who take a variety of punitive actions they feel are necessary to maintain an orderly forum. You should read threads in the Rules & Stickies forum for details and examples. Your questions are far more likely to be answered if you understand the formats. I hope that this helps. Take Care.

-cd

 

[ev23]

Hi cyberdoc,

Ok I thought so, just wanted to make sure it wasn't in response to the content of this post. I understand and have since read the rules, it was inconsiderate of me to post without doing so beforehand. Needless to say, it won't happen again. It is unfortunate though, that this thread has become more about my poor first impression on the forum and less about lasers -------------------

 

[RB astro]

It is unfortunate though, that this thread has become more about my poor first impression on the forum and less about lasers -------------------

Well, quite frankly, it's polite to first introduce yourself to people, let them know a little about yourself and your general location.
Let them respond and then ask your questions.

It took you six posts and three identical threads before you posted a welcome thread.

What sort of response did you expect?
What sort of response do you give someone who barges into your house, unannounced and starts to carry on before you get a chance to say hello and get to 'know them a little'.

Let's move on from here and put this behind us, shall we?

RB

 

[Alaskan]

Part of the problem is we have a former banned member who likes to come into the forum with new member names and immediately break every forum etiquette he can think of, then acts innocent, "what? I didn't know". Problem is, these same things happen with newbies all the time, so we can't really know. However, that's the first thing I think anyway; that our forum troll is back again.

 

[GSS]

^^^^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ev23, if your sincere don't let this get you from not reaching your goal.
Tell us what Encap's links helped with. Hate to see a possible legit member that just has a somewhat need for quick help be pushed away...

 

[lasersbee]

Well, quite frankly, it's polite to first introduce yourself to people, let them know a little about yourself and your general location.
Let them respond and then ask your questions.

It took you six posts and three identical threads before you posted a welcome thread.

What sort of response did you expect?
What sort of response do you give someone who barges into your house, unannounced and starts to carry on before you get a chance to say hello and get to 'know them a little'.

Let's move on from here and put this behind us, shall we?

RB

Couldn't have said it better myself...

Jerry

 

[steve001]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the group and joined mainly to get some information I haven't been able to track down online anywhere. I'm wondering about the hazard of viewing diffuse laser light - not a diffuse reflection - but laser light diffused through a translucent medium. I'll do my best to explain concisely but with as much detail as possible.

I'm working with a 30mW 532nm 5v line module (iiiB)
if the laser module is placed so that it is directly against the left side of a translucent white rubber cube so that the entire object glows green, would it be safe to view the diffuse light from directly above? At this point there is no longer any focused beam, so it is my understanding the hazard will be the same as staring at any bright light source (aside from the wavelength of light, which green should be highly visible and pose less danger than 405nm or infrared as long as the laser has an infrared shield) Is this correct? Obviously one would not want to stare at this up close or for long periods of time but from a distance of a 2-3 feet away would this be hazardous? The beam is also perpendicular to the viewing angle so any light that was able to pass directly through would not be directed at the eye.



please let me know if you have any information about safety hazards in regard to this as well as any sources or material that you could refer me to that would help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I would like you to reason out your question. There are many clues in your post too do so. Three clues are: diffused, white cube, 30mW. When you did a search did you discover why lasers can potentially present an eye hazard?

 

[ev23]

RB Astro
I totally understand and didn't realize how this forum works when I came in, Its very different than many others I participate in but in a good way. Its nice to see people trying to build a community instead of a free for all with everyone hiding behind anonymous handles. I feel foolish for posting all over the second I got through the door without reading the rules but you can be sure it won't happen again! Exactly, lets please put this behind us if possible and turn this thread around!