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http://aneyetothefuture.com/node/123
High-Powered Laser Pointers May Produce Immediate And Severe Retinal Injury.
The AP (9/9, Ritter) reports that, according to a case study published in the Sept. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a 15-year-old Swiss boy "damaged his eyes while playing with a laser pointer he'd bought over the Internet, say doctors who warn that dangerously high-powered versions are easily available online." The pointer used by the teen was "30 times more powerful than the FDA limit." After playing with it "in front of a mirror to create a light show...he accidentally zapped his eyes with its green light several times."
HealthDay (9/8, Gordon) reported that the laser pointer damaged the boy's sight. In fact, "the vision in his left eye was so damaged that he couldn't count how many fingers a doctor was holding up until they were just three feet away. His visual acuity in his right eye was 20/50." Although the boy did recover most of his sight, the authors of the case study "pointed out, high-powered laser pointers can produce immediate and severe retinal injury -- so severe that even blindness can occur."