美国FDA:激光玩具如何确保儿童安全?
Many kids (and parents) who have seen Luke Skywalker battle Darth Vader with a light saber think lasers are cool.
What they may not know is this: When operated unsafely, or without certain controls, the highly-concentrated light from lasers—even those in toys—can be dangerous, causing serious eye injuries and even blindness. And not just to the person using a laser, but to anyone within range of the laser beam.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is concerned about this potential danger to children and those around them and in 2014 issued a guidance document (PDF 60K) on the safety of children’s toy laser products.
“A beam shone directly into a person’s eye can injure it in an instant, especially if the laser is a powerful one,” explains Dan Hewett, health promotion officer at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
Moreover, eye injuries caused by laser light usually don't hurt. Vision can deteriorate slowly and, therefore, may go unnoticed, for days and even weeks. Ultimately, the damage could be permanent, Hewett says.
Some examples of laser toys are:
- lasers mounted on toy guns that can be used for “aiming”;
- spinning tops that project laser beams while they spin;
- hand-held lasers used during play as “light sabers”; and
- lasers intended for entertainment that create optical effects in an open room.