Boy's high-risk laser toy leaves him with sight loss

Lasers have caused problems for pilots. Photo / Greg Bowker

An 11-year-old boy has permanent eye damage from the beam of a green laser pointer that was bought as a toy.

It burned his retina - the light-sensitive back of the eye - leaving a 1.5mm scar and increasing his risk of developing central-vision blindness.

His eye specialist, Dr Dianne Sharp, and his mother want the Government to follow other countries and restrict access to high-powered laser pointers.

Regulations are being developed, but laser sales are still unrestricted.

Their call follows a demand from the Air Line Pilots' Association for regulatory action.

The association is concerned at the number of cases of laser pointers being shone at planes in the air - at least 17 this year - which could distract or dazzle a pilot at night, leading to a crash.

The devices have also been used against police, sports stars and car drivers.

They are intended for use as lecture pointers or for pointing out the direction of stars, but often they are sold as toys or gimmicks and are dangerously and unnecessarily powerful.

The 11-year-old, whose family requested anonymity, bought his200 milliwatt laser pointer for $15 during a family holiday in Thailand in January.

His mother said that in June, he played with the pen-shaped device in his bedroom with a friend on a sleep-over.

Afterwards, he had a "fuzzy blob" in his vision.

His mother later learned he had lasered his right eye when he shone the pointer in a mirror and was momentarily hit by the reflection.

She said the family knew not to shine the light directly into the eyes, but did not know of the risk in reflecting the beam.

The boy has lost some visual sharpness in his right eye, reducing its reading level on the eye-testing chart by three print sizes, but his overall vision is not greatly affected because his left eye was not lasered.

"We are going to have to be extra-protective of his vision because he is slightly compromised," his mother said.

"I feel bad because [the pointer] just seemed like a fun, groovy thing to buy. It did have this warning on it, but we had to get the magnifying glass out subsequently to see it: 'Danger, radiation, avoid direct eye exposure'."

"There needs to be raised public awareness about the easy availability of them and the potential damage that can happen so quickly."

Dr Sharp said: "The voluntary standards are not adequate for this device. Consumers do not understand the classification system. A class-three 200mW green laser is extremely dangerous."

Laser pointers can be used for:

* Lectures and presentations. The National Radiation Laboratory says 1 milliwatt is powerful enough.
* Amateur astronomy, for pointing towards stars and aiming telescopes. Laboratory says 50mW is maximum needed.

Unsafe uses

* Don't give any laser pointer to a child as a toy.
* Don't aim one at a person, especially the eyes, or at a mirror.