Laser safety and bioeffects research: An overview

The development of new types of lasers operating in new wavelength regimes with new durations and the continued development of more powerful retinal hazard lasers with larger retinal image sizes, all have necessitated consideration with regard to changes in safety standards. The aim of the successive revisions of safety standards has been to make them simpler and to eliminate discontinuities. In this way, it is insured that a small change in the wavelength or duration of a possible laser exposure will not make a large change in the assessment of the hazard or in the required safety procedures. New data from research programs on retinal hazards with regard to multiple pulses, extended sources, as well as ultra-short pulses is reviewed. Corneal hazards from excimer lasers in the short-ultraviolet, as well as other regions of the spectrum, has now been applied in ways that require consideration along with the other new data as the basis for future revisions of the ANSI Z136 Laser Safety Standard. 1.