The dangers of laser pointers for children

The use of pointers or laser swords has become increasingly fashionable among children, largely due to the influence of the 'War of the Stars' movie Galaxies', but we should not consider these devices as a toy since misuse of them can cause serious dangers for the health of our children . Risks to t

The use of pointers or laser swords has become increasingly fashionable among children, largely due to the influence of the 'War of the Stars' movie Galaxies', but we should not consider these devices as a toy since misuse of them can cause serious dangers for the health of our children.

Risks to the eyes of children with laser pointers

In recent years, there have been an increase in cases of children with serious visual sequelae caused by the improper use of these devices in the ophthalmologists' offices.

Many times they are used as a game in which the children challenge themselves to see who can stand the most time to be pointed by these pointers in the eyes or directly to third parties who consider their 'target'.

The injuries that can cause in the sight do not usually cause pain and can go unnoticed for weeks. This is also alerted from different consumer associations. These laser pointers can cause different injuries:

- Damage to eyes: from damage to the retina to loss of vision, which can even be permanent and can cause blindness.

- Skin damage: causing from ulcers, to changes in pigmentation or even erythema.

The damage that these pointers can cause depends on their wavelength, the exposure time to it and the power of the beam they emit, and can harm not only children but also adults or animals if they point them at same.

Experts recommend that they should not be used as gaming purposes, although they can be attractive products for children and include children's motives such as bears or stars, or the appearance of toys such as laser swords, since misuse of them can have consequences fatal And in the case that they are used it is always under the supervision of an adult, especially in the case of children under 14 years of age.