Authored By:
Qutob et alThis survey that examined the occurrence of eye injuries caused by hand held lasers in Canada. Questionnaires developed by Health Canada were sent to optometrists and ophthalmologists surveying the cases of eye injuries from hand held lasers. Responses from the survey indicated that there were 318 eye injuries caused by hand held lasers between 2014 and 2017. Of these injuries, 77 were minor to severe cases of vision loss and 59 were classified as retinal damage. There was a higher prevalence of eye injuries for males (82.5%) than females (14.0%). Injuries were also reported to occur more often due to the actions of another person (67.6%) rather than self-exposure (26.1%). The authors concluded that the results provided insights into the potential prevalence of injuries from exposures to handheld laser devices in Canada. However, these results were not nationally representative due to the low survey response rate (23.1% and 12.7% for optometrists and ophthalmologists, respectively) and other unknown factors. These included potential over-reporting by duplication from the two responding professional groups, eye injuries from other causes and reported exposures not leading to injuries.
Published In:
Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology, October 2019In Australia, all hand held laser pointers available to the public are restricted to an accessible emission limit (AEL) of a Class 2 laser. This means they must have a power output of less than 1 milliwatt (mW). Lasers with an output below this limit are considered a low hazard. Unfortunately, Australian studies have shown that handheld laser pointers available to the public are not always labelled correctly and may emit energy at harmful levels. In one study, the majority of laser pointers tested failed to meet the output restriction with outputs well above 1 mW. (Wheatley, 2013). ARPANSA provides advice on laser safety on its website to promote risk awareness and assist in responsible use of handheld laser products (link).
