I know the 5mw thing, however I doubt that 5mw is totally safe but 6mw suddenly causes severe retinal damage. For a greenish wavelength region laser what mw would most likely not cause permanent damage assuming that: 1. The beam did not hit anyones eyes directly but assuming a highly reflective surface (chrome or a bathroom mirror or something), and 2. that it was only for a short instant (the amount of time it would take to blink). I was unable to find a scale of reference for laser injuries.
edit: when I say "not cause permanent damage" I mean nothing that would do worse than creating a blurry patch or ghost image for 10 or 20 minutes.
edit: when I say "not cause permanent damage" I mean nothing that would do worse than creating a blurry patch or ghost image for 10 or 20 minutes.
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