Arctic Laser - Laser Pointer Safety Classification

Increased use of lasers in the last few years has led to questions of public safety and environmental impact.
The early laser pointers were helium-neon (HeNe) gas lasers and they were designed to produce a laser beam with an output power no greater than 1 mW.Today's generations of laser pointers are using diode lasers as the optical source and their max. laser beam output power is about 1W(S3 Arctic laser)! Today we have low power and high power lasers which have to be handled with extremely caution. Because of their potentially hazards, International Electrotechnical Commission(IEC) decided to classify lasers in four classes. They categorized them according to their ability to produce damage in exposed people, form class one (no danger to people during normal use) to class four (dangerous for eyes and skin).There is two classification systems: "old system"(before 2002.) and "revised system"(since 2002.) Of course we're going to talk about new one.

"Revised system"

In the revised system main classification of a laser is based on the concept of Accessible Emission Limits (AEL) that are defined for each laser class.All lasers are required to have a safety label stating the class they fall under.

> Class 1 : A class 1 is safe under all conditions of normal use. That involves the maximum allowed exposure cannot be reached.

>Class 1M : A class 1M is safe for all conditions of use except when passed through magnifying optics such as microscopes and telescopes. Maximum permissible exposure shouldn't be exceeded unless the beam is refocused by some kind of magnifying optics.In that case the power of laser beam can be increased and only then product class might be changed.

>Class 2 : A class 2 is safe because the blink reflex ( The reflex consumes a rapid rate of 0.1 second and protects eyes from laser beam exposure).If eye is exposed more than 0.25 seconds it could lead to eye injury.This only applies to visible-light lasers (400-700 nm).

>Class 2M : A class 2M is the same as Class 2 only if the laser beam is not if not viewed through optical instruments.It also applies to visible-light lasers.

>Class 3R : A class 3R should be safe if handled with caution.Although the maximum permissible exposure can be reached,the risk of injury is pretty low.Power of Visible continuous lasers in Class 3R shouldn't be more than 5 mW.

>Class 3B : A class 3B could lead to eye injury if the eye is exposed directly.Continuous lasers in the wavelength range from 315 nm to far infrared are limited to 0.5 W,And the limit of 30mW for pulsed lasers between 400 and 700 nm.With lasers in this class is required protective eyewear ( safety goggles ) and lasers must be equiped with key switch and safety interlock.

>Class 4 : A class 4 can cause a serious permanent eye injury if it's direct or diffuse beam viewing.It also can burn the skin and it may ignite combustible materials.It also requires safety goggles and lasers must be equiped with key switch and safety interlock.

In summary, as technology goes forward laser goes stronger and users should have common sense and use it in proper way.Owner of the high power laser like Arctic laser or any other from S3 spyder III series should be responsible and never aim it to other person,animal, vehicle or airplanes.