Is there any documentation on eye damage from IR LED'S.
Can this damage the eyes if they are closed?
I am thinking of at fairly low levels - LED's running at about 30 mw
That's what I assumed we were talking about, not lasers or focused beams.If you are talking about a normal unfocussed IR LED running at about 20mA and you aren't planning to put it continuously within a few inches of your eye, it isn't going to do any harm.
Some of the new high intensity LEDs are pretty scary!Yes, I was thinking 30mW output not input power. An IR LED running at 20mA should not cause harm unless perhaps help close to the eye for extended periods.
Both IR and UV LED's and Lasers are especially dangerous because there is no natural blink reflex to the invisible light. If I remember correctly, the FDA has extra safety rules for IR and UV light sources because of this.Considering you might not notice the IR, an IR LED of the same intensity could conceivably cause eye damage if looking at it for some time.
Yeah it was one of the narrow beam angle ones, and I was looking right at it.You were "on axis" for a focused beam? Those things are indeed crazy, painfully bright. I usually run them down at 5mA or so. Off-axis, not so bright.
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