blue light hazard

[Gata]

Man that's crazy and to think I just bought a 473nm blue laser
O well I guess that means My retinas will be germ free:crackup:

yeah, to think

 

[JLSE]

I have read that with age, images your eyes perceive begin to yellow or have a yellowish tint. The article I read stated this was from a lifetime of UV exposure from the sun.

I wonder if there is any similarity with the yellowish spots you see after viewing 405nm light or even the UV LED flashlights like that of what DX sells?

If so, id guess that viewing this spectrum has similar properties as what the sun can do from normal exposure.

Any eye doctors in the house?

 

[rocketparrotlet]

I have two blue fluorescent lights on my porch.

-Mark

 

[Cyparagon]

As far as I know, the reason violet light is difficult to focus on is because of material in the eye itself fluorescing slightly.

The blue compact fluorescents are just a phosphor for a white spectrum sent through blue glass to filter out a chunk of the yellow spectrum. They're pretty wasteful and the only reason I can think of for not just using a blue phosphor and clear glass is that it retains at least some color rendering. But anyway, blue light exposure for this type of lamp would not be any higher than with a white lamp.

Linear blue fluorescents (assuming they are not just in a blue polycarbonate sleeve) are often simply a blue phosphor.

 

[laserlighter]

just for information.
this is the wavelength specific danger from blue light for eye damage.
the hazard number has no unit.

the collumns are the wavelength (WL) in nm the blue light hazard risk (BLH) and the risk of thermal eye damage (TED)

WL BLH TED
300 0,01
380 0,01 0,1
385 0,01 0,13
390 0,03 0,25
395 0,05 0,5
400 0,10 1,0
405 0,20 2,0
410 0,40 4,0
415 0,80 8,0
420 0,90 9,0
425 0,95 9,5
430 0,98 9,8
435 1,00 10,0
440 1,00 10,0
445 0,97 9,7
450 0,94 9,4
455 0,90 9,0
460 0,80 8,0
465 0,70 7,0
470 0,62 6,2
475 0,55 5,5
480 0,45 4,5
485 0,40 4,0
490 0,22 2,2
495 0,16 1,6
500 0,10 1,0

as you can clearly see 445nm is nearly at the maximum of the possible damage!

so please be aware of that when using your DIY blue laser.
Its not only the most powerfull handheld laser around its also the most dangerous one for long and short time eye damage.

Thanks for listening

 

[Cyparagon]

the hazard number has no unit.

That's convenient. Source?

 

[laserlighter]

I can upload parts of my documents about laser safety when I'm back at home (@ work atm).

The hazard number is based on a maximum danger. So you can say if the BLH number is 1 the hazard is 100% of its maximum.

for example: you can look 10 sec into a blue light (440nm BLH=1,0) with a certain intensity with no danger.
If the same source with the same intensity would have 400nm (BLH=0,1) you could look 100 sec into it with no danger.

sorry its only in german:
Vertical is intensity, horizontal the maximum exposure time
the blue line is the 100% danger line for BLH


EDIT: pic found online: http://www.imgbox.de/users/public/images/n2ntrHjPYE.gif

 

[Cyparagon]

You DO realize all white light has blue in it, right? The entirety of the blue light you are exposed to every day would be like... several thousand times more than a laser hit.

I don't approve of your fear-mongering. It is obvious that you should avoid exposure to class 4 laser light, but not because it is BLUE.

 

[laserlighter]

as you see the danger of blue light depends on its intensity.
if you get over a certain level the chance to damage your retina increases.

as you see in the graph the danger of themal damage is also there.

so both effects can damage your eye: too much thermal power and too much concentrated blue light.

 

[ElektroFreak]

as you see the danger of blue light depends on its intensity.
if you get over a certain level the chance to damage your retina increases.

as you see in the graph the danger of themal damage is also there.

so both effects can damage your eye: too much thermal power and too much concentrated blue light.

This applies to all light sources, regardless of wavelength.

I will state that my own searching has resulted in a plethora of "scientific" and non-scientific theories and speculation regarding blue-light hazard ranging from zero hazard to "omg we're all gonna f*ckin die man", and while there is surely some hazard I have yet to see any kind of definite quantization of it.

I think due to the fact that definitive answers are still a ways off, it would be prudent to limit long-term exposure to high-intensity blue light. In the short term I doubt that the kind of duration of exposure that we all encounter when working with our lasers (typically ranging from only a few minutes to a couple of hours per day) will cause any real damage even in the worst case, but the cumulative exposure after days, months and years of daily exposure could cause damage. Since the scientific establishment is still speculating on these potential hazards, better safe than sorry IMO.

 

[joeyss]

Yea but you shouldn't be looking into that light anyway since it's so intense and you'll have your eyes damaged before you see the blue light and if it wasn't like that we'd have tons of members complain about eye damage from just looking at the laser beam or the dot from 500 feet away.

 

[laserlighter]

the source of the information is from the german/swiss "fachervaband für strahlenschutz" that can be translated like "professional association for radiation protection"

i would belive them.

 

[ElektroFreak]

^Why believe them over any other study?

 

[Gord]

I have an S3 Arctic, and you have to treat it with respect.
The blue light is substantial, even if you're outside.
Just basking in the atmosphericly reflected glow is uncomfortable.
I'm not sure that the eye issues are overstated at all.
Glasses are a must if you'll be looking at the spot.
I'll probably get rid of it, as, power aside, the whole blue bleaching thing is
simply not worth the easy power.
But I won't get rid of it yet !

 

[00Giorge]

Umm.. usually new members introduce them selves in the welcome section and in case you didn't notice the last post is over a year old!

 

[diachi]

I'm pretty sure that Steve ( mixedgas ) over on PL pointed this out a year or two ago.

Important to reiterate it anyway. As long as some sense is applied when working with high powerd light sources our eyes will be safe.