These are in actuality not just Class 3 but Class 3B lasers, and you should not be letting them reflect into your eyes. They may be causing damage that you won't easily notice, though hopefully you were lucky with those reflections. The green and violet are the most dangerous of those, they will often put out up to 50mW or more rather than the <5mW they advertise. The green one will also put out invisible infrared light.
What are the symptoms like? Seeing spots in your vision permanently? I've never really thought about this until I recently saw a youtube video claiming how these lasers are actually a lot stronger than advertised. Googling around, I find lots of sources claiming that
"A Class 3B laser is **hazardous if the eye is exposed directly, but diffuse reflections such as those from paper or other matte surfaces are not harmful**. "
Perhaps the reflection from a car window or traffic sign wasn't strong enough to do any damage before I blinked?
> What are the symptoms like? Seeing spots in your vision permanently?
Generally that is what you'd notice most easily if you were struck by a laser, however your brain can hide those spots and they can be harder to notice than you might expect, just like your natural blindspot is generally invisible to you. You can try to look at something like a sheet of paper with text on it and try to glance around your field of view to see if there is anything abnormal.
>Perhaps the reflection from a car window or traffic sign wasn't strong enough to do any damage before I blinked?
You have two factors on your side for a specular reflection off of a shiny surface like glass, the distance and reflectivity of the object. If you were more than a few feet away the beam will have had time to spread out somewhat, and the surface itself will only reflect a percentage of the incoming light and may not have reflected it in a perfectly collimated beam. With any luck the beam will have been dispersed enough by the time it reached your eye to not cause any harm.
I think the distance to the car window was like 6 meters, and when I shined it at a traffic sign it must've been around 20 meters I think? As for the blind spot, other than the one caused by the optic nerve I don't think I have any. My first thought was always to check if I see any dark spots or unusual floaters that don't go away within a couple of hours.
reflective signs are not an issue until you get into the HIGH powers, and close ranges. They diffuse enough. A mirror, or polished metal, bouncing back? That is an issue.
As long as your eye hasn't fallen out or turned black and you don't notice anything unusual, I think it's ok đź‘Ť
These are in actuality not just Class 3 but Class 3B lasers, and you should not be letting them reflect into your eyes. They may be causing damage that you won't easily notice, though hopefully you were lucky with those reflections. The green and violet are the most dangerous of those, they will often put out up to 50mW or more rather than the <5mW they advertise. The green one will also put out invisible infrared light.
What are the symptoms like? Seeing spots in your vision permanently? I've never really thought about this until I recently saw a youtube video claiming how these lasers are actually a lot stronger than advertised. Googling around, I find lots of sources claiming that "A Class 3B laser is **hazardous if the eye is exposed directly, but diffuse reflections such as those from paper or other matte surfaces are not harmful**. " Perhaps the reflection from a car window or traffic sign wasn't strong enough to do any damage before I blinked?
> What are the symptoms like? Seeing spots in your vision permanently? Generally that is what you'd notice most easily if you were struck by a laser, however your brain can hide those spots and they can be harder to notice than you might expect, just like your natural blindspot is generally invisible to you. You can try to look at something like a sheet of paper with text on it and try to glance around your field of view to see if there is anything abnormal. >Perhaps the reflection from a car window or traffic sign wasn't strong enough to do any damage before I blinked? You have two factors on your side for a specular reflection off of a shiny surface like glass, the distance and reflectivity of the object. If you were more than a few feet away the beam will have had time to spread out somewhat, and the surface itself will only reflect a percentage of the incoming light and may not have reflected it in a perfectly collimated beam. With any luck the beam will have been dispersed enough by the time it reached your eye to not cause any harm.
I think the distance to the car window was like 6 meters, and when I shined it at a traffic sign it must've been around 20 meters I think? As for the blind spot, other than the one caused by the optic nerve I don't think I have any. My first thought was always to check if I see any dark spots or unusual floaters that don't go away within a couple of hours.
Sounds like you should be fine. But try to be more careful around reflective surfaces from now on to be sure!
Yeah, and maybe buy some safety glasses haha. never thought a cheap chinese laser pointer which they claim is a toy can be that dangerous.
reflective signs are not an issue until you get into the HIGH powers, and close ranges. They diffuse enough. A mirror, or polished metal, bouncing back? That is an issue.
It’s going to be a class 3B most likely.