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Allen,

We use lasers in our exhibits and have dealt with 
the eye safety issue. Class 1 and 2 lasers are 
considered safe to use in unsupervised, public 
venues. Common sense and natural aversion to the 
brightness of the light are typically enough to 
prevent someone from being harmed by the light – 
just like having the expectation that people 
viewing an outdoor exhibit won't look up and 
stare at the sun. Even though you could 
anticipate that kids will ‘experiment’ with the 
penlights, they won't harm each other.

Class 2 LED products are grouped with Class 2 
LASER products in the IEC 825-1 Standard  for eye 
safety. In the 400 to 700 nm range, "eye 
protection is normally afforded by aversion 
responses including the blink response", 
according to an interpretation of the standard done by Agilent Technologies.

If you could take and email me a picture of the 
labels on the penlight I would verify with our 
partner, LumaLaser, that we are talking about the same class of product.


Peter Powers
InterVision
261 E. 12th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
(541) 343-7993

>Hi everyone,
>
>We're prototyping a phosphorescent vinyl 
>activity here and have had pretty spectacular 
>results using "Streamlight Stylus" blue LED penlights.
>
>We're a little worried about whether these are 
>actually suitable for unsupervised (or lightly 
>supervised) use on the floor, though: they're 
>really, really bright.  They're labeled "Class 2 
>LED product / Avoid direct eye exposure" on the 
>package, which sounds fairly ominous in terms of kid safety.
>
>Is anyone aware of any guidelines for handheld 
>flashlight brightness on the museum 
>floor?  Fairly extensive Googling hasn't turned up much.
>
>Thanks!
>
>--
>~~
>
>Allan Ayres
>Exhibit Developer
>Lawrence Hall of Science
>University of California, Berkeley
>Berkeley, CA 94720-5200
>[log in to unmask]
>510-642-1254

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