{"id":5341,"date":"2018-12-11T15:28:35","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T15:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/laser-pointers-should-be-thrown-away-say-safety-experts\/"},"modified":"2018-12-11T15:28:35","modified_gmt":"2018-12-11T15:28:35","slug":"laser-pointers-should-be-thrown-away-say-safety-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/laser-pointers-should-be-thrown-away-say-safety-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Laser pointers should be thrown away, say safety experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div property=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width lead\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-image-replace\" alt=\"eye with laser\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/64F3\/production\/_104734852_gettyimages-676633894.jpg\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Laser pointers can have &#8220;terrifying&#8221; consequences for children&#8217;s eyesight and should be thrown away, suggest safety experts.<\/p>\n<p>In the run-up to Christmas, Trading Standards officers are stressing such devices are not genuine toys.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2012, at least 47 children have suffered permanent eye damage as a result of lasers being shone in their faces.<\/p>\n<p>The government has promised to do more to stop such devices being imported.<\/p>\n<p>At the moment it is illegal in the UK to sell lasers that produce more than 1 milliWatt of power.  <\/p>\n<p>However, many that are within the legal limit do not conform to EU safety standards, and some are more powerful than their label suggests.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-35580261\" class=\"story-body__link\">Lasers are &#8216;offensive weapons&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;The biggest problem is that many of these products can be purchased via the internet and are sourced from businesses outside the EU,&#8221; said Robert Chantry-Price, of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As a consequence, they may not have been tested for their safety.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trading Standards said children were at greater risk of injuries than adults, as they tend not to blink or turn their eyes away if a laser is shone into their face.<\/p>\n<p>Those who already own a laser are being told that throwing them away is the &#8220;safest thing to do&#8221;.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Following an enquiry last year, the government has promised more support to stop high-powered lasers being imported.<\/p>\n<p>It wants better labelling, and more public awareness of the dangers.<\/p>\n<p>As a result Trading Standards has launched a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uxJxAEKqX10\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">new video<\/a> and poster campaign to try and cut down on the number of injuries to children.<\/p>\n<p>The law regarding those who use lasers to try and distract pilots, air traffic controllers or motorists was tightened earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/new-measures-to-tackle-the-misuse-of-lasers-gain-royal-assent\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">The Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Act<\/a> provides for prison sentences of up to five years, and unlimited fines.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-46524648\">Source<\/a> by <a href=\"\">[author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Getty Images Laser pointers can have &#8220;terrifying&#8221; consequences for children&#8217;s eyesight and should be thrown away, suggest safety experts. In the run-up to Christmas, Trading Standards officers are stressing such devices are not genuine toys. Since 2012, at least 47 children have suffered permanent eye damage as a result of lasers being shone &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}