Will eyelids protect you from a high powered laser

[dougbrowne]

Say I took a high powered green laser and pointed at my eyes, with my eyes closed and turned it on. Would my eyelids be enough to protect my eyes (not that I would ever attempt this). I understand that the blink reflex isn't fast enough to protect you, but Im just wondering, if your eyes were closed already...

 

[phoenix77]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

Depends on the mW out-put & how long of exposure time your talking about. PLEASE, DON'T EVEN CONSIDER DOING THIS :-/ :-? At the very least, you may wind up with burned eyelids :'(

 

[maxkillz]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

depends on the color of the laser too, red will go right through where green will have a tougher time but it will still damage your eyes.

 

[dougbrowne]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

Ahk, lol. I was just wondering... I would never attempt it, I just asked out of curiosity.

 

[Razako]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

Your eyelids would probably protect you from a low powered green, but red and more powerful green lasers will still pass a lot of light through the thin layer of skin.

 

[Benm]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

Red will be scattered considerably by the eyelid, effectively being re-emitted right from the eyelid, very far out of the eyes focus range. This means the lens will not be able to concentrate it on a small spot on the retina (causing thermal damage there), which is what does happen when you look into a beam that goes into your opened eye.

So looking at a red through closed eyelids is by no means as dangerous as looking into the laser with open eyes, but if its powerful enough it will still pose some danger.

Green is another matter entirely. Though i wont try it out on myself, believe that most of it would be blocked by the skin and tissue of the eyelid, reducing exposure by a factor 100 or more. This makes a burn on the eyelid more likely than damage to your eye, but still sounds fairly unpleasant. A few 100 mW delivers a nasty sting when pointed at your hand, imagine what it feels like on an eyelid!

 

[AjentX]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

remember there is also IR coming out of a green laser (if not filtered) which can also do considerable damage to your eye

 

[Murudai]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

remember there is also IR coming out of a green laser (if not filtered) which can also do considerable damage to your eye

IR isn't as dangerous as it's generally made out to be. Even for a high powered laser, it tends to only be around 10-30mW. And since it isn't focused and is very diffuse, it tends to not be too much of a worry. Not a good thing, obviously, but it won't blind you right away

What it does tend to do is screw up power readings. A cheap 100mW laser might be 70mW of green and 30mW of IR, and what's the point of IR, we can't see it

 

[sad_sagi]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

i can press my 5mw dx up to my finger tip and turn it on, and it glows through a bit of skin... maybe 1/8th inch or so. try that to show yourself it will be bright with your eyes closed

 

[randomlugia]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

Your eyelids would probably protect you from a low powered green, but red and more powerful green lasers will still pass a lot of light through the thin layer of skin.

Only one way to find out! ;D Lift up your eyelid, and shine the laser on to an LMP. Any victims volunteers?

 

[Benm]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

... and that's how you get pinkeye ;p

 

[Illuminum3415]

Re: Will eyelids protect you from a high powered l

forget pink eye...your asking for a Retinal haemorrhage