Can Lasers Cause Cancer?

[JacKz5o]

What title says.. if lasers are pointed at your skin, can you get skin cancer or something later on?

 

[justin07]

a little off task but if you live in California I'd say yes because it seems that every thing is known to cause cancer there lol


also i think u.v lasers can cause skin cancer

 

[RobTheVIP]

Almost anything can cause cancer..................................................................But no, not a laser.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Nothing causes cancer but then everything causes cancer
Ask a dumb doctor ;D

Mike

 

[Chief-Eamonn]

yes in the same way the light coming of your computer screen or from a light bulb might cause cancer. :

 

[solar00]

Just like Justin07, i think only UV lasers might cause skin cancer.
Especially with wavelenghts between 320-280nm (UVB) which is able to damage DNA.

UVA (400-320nm) also can be a little risk althouht a lot smaller than UVB
UVC (below280nm) should not be dangerous as its not able to penetrate skin.

However this is only dangerous when you are exposed to it for a long time, so i'm not sure a short laserburst is even a real risk at all (except for burning of course)

 

[Benm]

I guess the 405 nm output of bluray diodes falls int he dangerous category in terms of wavelength, but at those powers it's hardly a risk.

Just pointing a powerful red or green laser at your skin will not cause cancer, at least not when you stop doing so once it starts to hurt really bad. If you don't, the risk is as large as with any other burn.

 

[marianne]

so is 405nm actually dangerous, given that it's still above 400nm?

 

[shikari_rock]

so is 405nm actually dangerous, given that it's still above 400nm?

No, if yes, we'd have people getting cancer from blacklights. :

Laser radiation isn't your nuclear radiation, it's light, electro-magnetic radiation. So the answer is no.

*EDIT* The big animation in my sig is a Gamma Ray Burst, that produces massive amounts of radiation, hence the name.

 

[Justin]

I once stood in a grocery store lineup behind a woman who would not allow the cashier to scan her apples through the laser UPC scanner.

"Don't you know that those things can give you cancer?", she said.

I tried to explain to her that I was a laser professional and that the low-powered red laser shining at her apples has a zero percent chance of giving her (or the apples) cancer, and she looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. Seems that some people are afraid of everything that they don't understand, and they also don't want to understand anything, either. It must be a fearful way to live your life!

 

[RobTheVIP]

I once stood in a grocery store lineup behind a woman who would not allow the cashier to scan her apples through the laser UPC scanner.

"Don't you know that those things can give you cancer?", she said.

I tried to explain to her that I was a laser professional and that the low-powered red laser shining at her apples has a zero percent chance of giving her (or the apples) cancer, and she looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. Seems that some people are afraid of everything that they don't understand, and they also don't want to understand anything, either. It must be a fearful way to live your life!

LOL! That was when you should have pulled out your orion 635nm that you had stored in your pocket and started to shine it around... ;D

 

[JacKz5o]

I once stood in a grocery store lineup behind a woman who would not allow the cashier to scan her apples through the laser UPC scanner.

"Don't you know that those things can give you cancer?", she said.

I tried to explain to her that I was a laser professional and that the low-powered red laser shining at her apples has a zero percent chance of giving her (or the apples) cancer, and she looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. Seems that some people are afraid of everything that they don't understand, and they also don't want to understand anything, either. It must be a fearful way to live your life!

LOL

Yeah I was pretty sure that laser radiation was different than the radiation that can cause cancer but I just wanted to ask and make sure

Thanks

 

[Benm]

[quote author=marianne link=1193359734/0#7 date=1193404109]so is 405nm actually dangerous, given that it's still above 400nm?

No, if yes, we'd have people getting cancer from blacklights.  :

Laser radiation isn't your nuclear radiation, it's light, electro-magnetic radiation. So the answer is no.
[/quote]

Well, gamma radiation is just electromagnetic radiation of high energy (and nuclear origin, otherwise its called x-ray). But at least that's considered ionizing and hence dangerous.

The limit of what is dangerous isn't really that well defined though, its not like 401 nm is always safe, and 399 nm will sprout tumors faster than weeds grow in your lawn.

Visible light can also do some damage, but the risk is just minor. To give an idea of differences.. 300 nm is in the order of 1000 to 10.000 times more likely to cause skin cancer compared to 400 nm at equal power.

That was when you should have pulled out your orion 635nm that you had stored in your pocket and started to shine it around...

Or rather use a powerful laser to burn a hole straight through one of the apples... sure its safe ;p