Hello,

I am using the TSAL6100 from Vishay
and I was wondering how hazardous the
ired coming out of this led is?

I am using it at 1/3 it's power capacity and
it will be used in homes as a beam breaker
to turn on/off lamps.

So it will most likely be shooting out IR for
a couple of feet. Is this dangerous for the eyes?

anyone has experience with IRed LEDs
concerning this aspect.

thanks

 

It is safe, look around on Google. IR is long wave length low energy radiation.

It will shoot out more than a couple of feet.

 

That is an 80mW LED, so imagine a bright 5mm white LED brightness and that would be roughly the same output to your eye, not blinding, but not visible.

Remote controls run that power of LED, I'm not aware of anybody suffering vision impairment from a remote. If this is something you'll be staring at for hours, it may be something to consider, but unlikely. I'm basing this on the fact that "Night View" IR Illuminators for cameras and non-FLIR night vision use several watts of IR light, and they do not have any sort of warning on them.

--ETA: Here is a more official source: OSRAM App Note on IR and Eye Safety, attached PDF.

 

"I am using it at 1/3 it's power capacity and
it will be used in homes as a beam breaker
to turn on/off lamps."




Something I'd mention, is where the sensors are mounted. Will they be close enough to the floor, where a baby may crawl up and stare into them?

Inquisitive little kids may get a kick out of staring into them??



Edited to add, a few weeks ago I was temporarily blinded, when an LED moved around and I looked directly at it. Saw white spots for 3 hrs.

 

......................
Edited to add, a few weeks ago I was temporarily blinded, when an LED moved around and I looked directly at it. Saw white spots for 3 hrs.

What type and power of LED?

 

Something I'd mention, is where the sensors are mounted. Will they be close enough to the floor, where a baby may crawl up and stare into them?

yes. but that sensor can be disabled by the user if he or she
wishes to. But can someone answer me this, is the Ir light
that comes out of the led an inch away a lot more concentrated
then the ir 3 feet away? Or is it th same 1" or 3 feet away?

Aslo what worries me is what Vishay says in their safety document
see here.... under "classification"

http://www.vishay.com/ir-emitting-diodes/list/product-81009/

Then click on the the following link:

Eye Safety - Eye Safety Risk Assessment of Light or Infrared Emitting Diodes


r
Sent from my iPhone

 

Yes, the intensity is greater as you get closer to the source. In general, it falls off proportional to the square of the distance.

 

The key to retinal damage is the ability of the lens to focus that particular wavelength on the retina.

Near infrared is bent by the lens just like regular light, so it can damage the retina.

The LED in question has peak power at 940 nm which is in the near infrared (close to visible light), and thus can damage the retina.

As you know, human biology doesn't really have many "cut points" so there would be a "range" of wavelenghts that would be damaging, but the longer the wavelength the lower the probabilit of damage.

For the chronicles, I'll add this table from Wiki:

Near IR = 750-1400 nm
SWIR = 1400-3000 nm
MidIR = 3000-8000 nm
LongIR = 8000-15000 nm
FarIR = 15000-1000000 nm

 

What type and power of LED?

Here's my thread:


http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=79000


At least a pair of dark shades may help you. Somewhat.

 

Yes, the intensity is greater as you get closer to the source. In general, it falls off proportional to the square of the distance.

an yes... I remember .... But one thing I am curious though
is, if my led shots ir light a couple of feet and bounces off
a wall, does it continue to fall off proportional to the
square of the distance after it bounced off the wall?

The key to retinal damage is the ability of the lens to focus that particular wavelength on the retina.

I will not be using any lense to concentrate the ir light,
as I may simply put some sort of decorative plastic reflector
over the led.

The LED in question has peak power at 940 nm which is in the near infrared (close to visible light), and thus can damage the retina.

So, SPQR, u are getting me worried... are you saying that
my LED is inappropriate and dangerous and I should
change LED??? The last thing I want I do is harm
someone's eye sight!!!!!

This LED will be on a desk or a table, it's not that people
will stare right into in it!!!! but obviously there will be
pulsating Ir light coming out of the led !!!!!

Now if some one is sitting 3 or 4 feet from this thing, he or
she may be exposed to the ir led but at a distance.

This Led is specced 100 ma... I know for a fact I am pushing
perhaps at worst case scenario 20 to 35 ma.

How can near infra red from my led be so dangerous when we are
exposed to the sun every day at (800 to 3200 nm)????

curious!!!

thanks all for your feedback!
r

 

It's unlikely that a standard IR LED outputs enough power to damage the eye. An IR laser LED is a different story since they typically have much higher output power, and those could possibly damage the eye.

 

an yes... I remember .... But one thing I am curious though
is, if my led shots ir light a couple of feet and bounces off
a wall, does it continue to fall off proportional to the
square of the distance after it bounced off the wall?

There is probably so little power, the light would not "bounce" off of anything other than a mirror.

So, SPQR, u are getting me worried... are you saying that
my LED is inappropriate and dangerous and I should
change LED??? The last thing I want I do is harm
someone's eye sight!!!!!

This LED will be on a desk or a table, it's not that people
will stare right into in it!!!! but obviously there will be
pulsating Ir light coming out of the led !!!!!

Now if some one is sitting 3 or 4 feet from this thing, he or
she may be exposed to the ir led but at a distance.

No, damage would be a function of two things - frequency and power.
Your LED is in the right frequency range for possible damage, but I doubt that it has near enough power.

How can near infra red from my led be so dangerous when we are
exposed to the sun every day at (800 to 3200 nm)????

Hopefully, you're not staring into the sun for any significant period of time.

 

okay thanks for the feedback !
r

 

One more thing...

On the market, they sell small concentrator lenses that can concentrate infra red light.

If I use a concentrator lense to concentrate the infra red light coming out of the led to a specific point, would this make my led infrared led more dangerous to the eyes if someone stares right into the LED ??

r

 

Yes, but "more dangerous" is a relative term. It is doubtful that you could concentrate it enough to be a problem. As long as you are dealing with output powers comparable to normal visible LEDs, you are unlikely to be able to make it dangerous even if you really tried. Not saying it's impossible, but I think you would really have to work at it. If that weren't the case, then you would see tons and tons of regulations governing everything that even thought of using an IR LED.

 

Okay thanks WBahn...

r