On the ILSC’97 some cases of eye injuries caused by laser pointers were reported. The question, how the laser community should respond, remained open. Meanwhile, available high power laser diodes allow the construction of laser pointers smaller than a ballpoint at very low prices. Large amounts of these devices were imported in Germany and other European countries. Many of them were purchased by teenagers and used as a “toy” to blind others. Investigations of lots of these devices came to the conclusion that many of them were incorrectly classified, according to the European standard, which differs from the U.S. American, especially concerning the irradiance for the classification of lasers. The German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety published a press statement on this topic, based on a report of the German Radiation Protection Commission. With increasing information the number of incidents decreased, but the lot of sold devices still may cause more eye injuries. Although a severe fine was sentenced in a case in Hamburg, there are still new cases being reported.

The German Standardization Joint Working Group “Lasers in Medicine” decided to issue a new statement, which is supported by institutions competent in the use of lasers, by official accident insurance companies, and others. This paper, written in a wording to be understood not only by standardization experts, but by teachers and also by teenagers, was distributed via the respective ministries in the German states to public schools and published in the journals of the official accident insurance companies. An English translation is presented.

1.
Seeley
D
: “
Laser Pointer Causes Eye Injuries?
Proceedings of the International Laser Safety Conference ILSC’97
, ed.:
J.
Dennis
,
Laser Institute of America
,
Orlando, FL
,
1997
,
560
563
2.
Stry
S
,
Kleine
D
,
Hering
P
:“
Are laser pointer a danger to the eye?
Institute of Laser Medicine, University of Düsseldorf
,
Düsseldorf Germany
,
1998
. http://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/MedFak/
3.
“Gefahren durch Laserpointer”,
Recommendations of the Radiation Protection Commission
, Bundesanzeiger Nr. 144, August 6,
1998
,
Bonn, Germany
4.
Reidenbach
HD
:
personal communication
,
1999
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