are laser pointers dangerous on your skin?

Answer 1

A laser pointer is powered by one or two small 1.5v batteries. The amount of power in the light beam isn't anywhere near enough to even cause your skin to feel warm.

UV rays are an ionizing radiation due to its higher frequency and can cause cellular and DNA damage. The light from a laser pointer is in the visible wavelength and is NOT an ionizing radiation and therefore not dangerous in that respect.

So the answer is no. Laser pointers won't do anything to your skin, even if you shine one on your skin until the batteries run out.

However, concentrated visible light, even at low power, can damage the much more sensitive retinal cells, which is why you should never look directly into a laser pointer beam.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Not for short exposures, but leave it in one spot for a time and it could burn or blister the skin, or cause cell deformation over time (like solar UV rays can cause skin cancer).
Most laser pointers instruct not to shine the light in the eyes, so they must have some dangerous radiation in them.
Lasers are single-frequency light and that can be more harmful to living tissue than ordinary light.

Answer 4

No. I have pointed them at my skin often. They are only dangerous to your eye, which is MUCH more sensitive to bright light than your skin. For example, compare the damage to your skin caused by 1 minute of sunlight to the damage to your eye if you stared directly at the Sun for one minute. You skin is not damaged by that but your eye would be so badly damaged that you would be permanently blinded.

Answer 5

If you left one shining on the same spot on your skin for seventeen years you might get a blister.

Answer 6

No, but I sure can't say the same for your eyes!