Paranoid: Will I have eye damage?

[ElginMills]

Hi everyone,

My co-worker brought a green 50mW laser to work and started shooting it in the office. I looked up once and it was reflecting off a window and went into my eye; after about a second I turned away when I realized what I was looking at. I told him to put it away but then he shot the beam into a glass bottle which again reflected into my eye.

I asked for him to give it to me; I know nothing about lasers so I did research and it seems at that power it is a Class 3B laser. I'm surprised it had no safety switches or something, but to my question:

Given it reflected into my eyes on a couple counts from glass, will I now have eye damage?

Edit: I should add my eyes feel physically fine, I've been tired today so I've been squinting to focus sometimes but I'm worried regardless.

Thanks for your insights and knowledge!

- EM

 

[Jacob32123]

Your retinas have no pain receptors, so you would not feel the damage. How is your vision? Are thing out of focus or discolored? Does the laser have a thin beam or a thick beam?

Is it this style of pen? True Green Laser Pen 5mW - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

Read this thread about a member here who suffered eye damage. http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/hit-eye-1000mw-445nm-blue-laser-69469.html

 

[ElginMills]

Hi Jacob32123,

My vision seems pretty normal for the state my eyes are in (dried and tried) I sometimes find myself squinting to focus things better when they're like this so I don't know if it's just my tired/dryness or if it's any effects of the laser. Nothing from what I can tell is discolored though. I don't know what's a relatively thin or wide beam, but it was a good sized dot. Maybe it looked like a little under the thickness of a pencil? I honestly couldn't tell you.

It's like that one, but a 50mW. It looks like you can't find it as a product but the reviews are still there:

DealExtreme: Reviews for True 50mW Green Laser Pointer Pen Black

That's crazy with that member; I'm really happy to hear he didn't lose his vision.

 

[xoul]

It sounds like you were lucky to avoid damage. I was hit in the eye with a 1000mw blue laser by accident, and the vision impairment was noticed immediately. I had a dark red blur in my central vision, preventing me from seeing/reading anything out of that eye. The dark red blur was actually blood covering over my retina.

If you're paranoid, you can see a retina specialist and have them check out the eye in question, that way you can know for sure. If there was any permanent damage, they should be able to see it.

Tell your coworker it unbelievably irresponsible to bring a laser to work, never mind actually turning it on and shining around the office. I would be fired in a heartbeat if I did that at my company. To me, it's not much different than bringing a firearm to work.

 

[Jacob32123]

Hi Jacob32123,

My vision seems pretty normal for the state my eyes are in (dried and tried) I sometimes find myself squinting to focus things better when they're like this so I don't know if it's just my tired/dryness or if it's any effects of the laser. Nothing from what I can tell is discolored though. I don't know what's a relatively thin or wide beam, but it was a good sized dot. Maybe it looked like a little under the thickness of a pencil? I honestly couldn't tell you.

It's like that one, but a 50mW. It looks like you can't find it as a product but the reviews are still there:

DealExtreme: Reviews for True 50mW Green Laser Pointer Pen Black

That's crazy with that member; I'm really happy to hear he didn't lose his vision.

We are not doctors, so if you are really paranoid, go see a retina specialist.

A 50mW beam straight to the eye are close range is quite dangerous, anything over 5mW requires goggles.

Now, that being said, the real danger occurs when you can't blink before the damage is done. From your story, I am going to guess that you are OK, because you didn't immediately blink, which you would have if it was powerful enough to do damage.

Also, those pens have really crappy beams. They widen quickly, making the amount of power that hits your retina lower. When you consider that it was also a reflection, I would guess that no permanent damage was done.

Once again, we are not doctors, and if you are still worried, go see a retina specialist. If you do decide to go see a doctor, please read the thread I linked to. I believe it has some good info about where to go, and where not to, to save yourself money.

 

[ElginMills]

Hi guys, thanks for your info. Xoul, I'm happy to see that you're okay!!!

I'm not sure of any Retina specialists in my area; I do know from your thread to avoid a hospital however so I'll steer clear of that. I do have my optometrist, would he/she be able to see anything wrong? Also, would any damage be immediately noticeable by them or will it take time to show up?

 

[snoutke]

Given it reflected into my eyes on a couple counts from glass, will I now have eye damage?

Hi,

Probably no damage is done and it is just you that feel what you feel as a psychological reaction to the incident.

As you already know, a 50mW laser is a class 3B laser, which is dangerous only in a dircet hit or a refection from mirror, but a diffused reflection is not dangerous.

However, what your coworker did, was totaly stupid and reckless.:gun:

 

[ElginMills]

Hi,

Probably no damage is done and it is just you that feel what you feel as a psychological reaction to the incident.

As you already know, a 50mW laser is a class 3B laser, which is dangerous only in a dircet hit or a refection from mirror, but a diffused reflection is not dangerous.

However, what your coworker did, was totaly stupid and reckless.:gun:

Yeah I was thinking it could be a psychological thing too; the mind is a powerful thing. Would a window be declared a diffused reflection? I'm not good with measurement, but I would say the window would be about 40ft/13 yards away but the bottle was about 9ft/3 yards

 

[xoul]

Hi guys, thanks for your info. Xoul, I'm happy to see that you're okay!!!

I'm not sure of any Retina specialists in my area; I do know from your thread to avoid a hospital however so I'll steer clear of that. I do have my optometrist, would he/she be able to see anything wrong? Also, would any damage be immediately noticeable by them or will it take time to show up?

Like Jacob said, we're not doctors so I don't want you to solely rely on answers from us. Your optometrist may be able to help you, and if not he/she may be able to recommend a retina specialist for you if needed.

Again, in my case the damage was seen immediately, but your case is much different that mine. I had a direct hit at close range where as you had a reflection at what sounds to be a longer range, and with a much less powerful laser. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have it checked regardless. But, I don't think a laser can cause degenerating damage (damage that worsens over time after the initial impact), since its only doing damage while its shooting photons at your retina and burning it. But that's just my non-doctor opinion.

 

[DrSid]

What about afterimages and dark spots ? Usually there are some even if you are in safe levels. Good dazzle can leave afterimages for minutes, and still be safe.
Imho reflection of round bottle will unfocus the beam and also only part of the energy will reflect, so I guess you're safe. This time ..

 

[ElginMills]

Hi DrSid, I don't see any afterimages or dark spots. I'm really thankful everything seems okay; I always knew there was danger from lasers but I'm suprised at how easily attainable these higher-powered ones are. Xoul, so happy you're okay! I agree with you completely, they are like a firearm.

Since it's New Years weekend, I don't think I'll be able to see an optometrist until next week.

 

[Guyfromhe]

Also those 50 mW newwish pens from DX are total crap... I had one once and it worked like crap and I don't think it was putting out much more than 10 or 15 mW (I am guessing - I have neither a LPM or that pen anymore).

You probably got lucky this time, but again if you have any reason to be concerned go see a doctor.

 

[ElginMills]

Thanks Guyfromhe! I'm going to be booking an appointment with an optometrist next week to get it all checked out It irritates me though how the pen doesn't even have safety measure on its button let alone a class identification on it - it just a generic "danger" sticker!

 

[Guyfromhe]

Thanks Guyfromhe! I'm going to be booking an appointment with an optometrist next week to get it all checked out It irritates me though how the pen doesn't even have safety measure on its button let alone a class identification on it - it just a generic "danger" sticker!

It's always better to be safe than sorry. If there is damage they will be able to see it.

It's a cheap Chinese POS your lucky it even had a sticker on it telling you it was a laser. In any case safety measures wouldn't help your situation when an idiot is wielding it.

 

[ElginMills]

Yeah seriously!

Do you think it will be okay to have it checked in about 4/5 days? That's when he's back. Xoul thinks any damage done from a laser is not degenerative, do you know if this the case?

(I understand nobody here is a doctor so please don't feel pressured to answer; I appreciate all your knowledge in this field!)

 

[Guyfromhe]

Yeah seriously!

Do you think it will be okay to have it checked in about 4/5 days? That's when he's back. Xoul thinks any damage done from a laser is not degenerative, do you know if this the case?

(I understand nobody here is a doctor so please don't feel pressured to answer; I appreciate all your knowledge in this field!)

I ain't a doctor so this is just based on what I have read...

The only real thing that can cause damage after the hit is swelling or bleeding... Xoul I think had a few days between his hit and them (the doctors, he had it _checked_ the same day at the ER) actually doing anything about it so I would say you are probably safe to go a couple days if all the doctors are out for the holidays and you have 0 symptoms or signs.

I would stare at a white screen a look for dark spots and check out an amsler grid to do some self-diagnostics and if you see anything weird go to the ER.. If not I will bet you have no damage but should get it checked anyway in a few days if that's the best you can do.

EDIT: In all likely hood you are probably fine, that laser wouldn't even heat up electric tape and it had awful divergence and you got a reflection off a surface that's not built to reflect... But you can never be too safe when it comes to your eyes.