Dave writes:

Sam Goldwasser wrote in
:

As long as they keep it away from anyone's eyes, it is safe.
It's less tha 1/200th of a W.


I work at a CO2 laser company where I work with Class IIIa HeNe (red laser)
pointers that shows where the invisible CO2 beam is. They're about 10-30x
more powerful than that one your kids were using. It is not harmful to the
skin.

Class IIIa can be anything up to 5 mW, just like laser pointers legal
in the USA. The typical dollar store laser pointer is 2 or 3 mW at 650 nm.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name is included in the subject line. Or, you can
contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

BUT

An AAA battery powered pointer will hurt an eye, if it is purposefully
shined on it. I don't differentiate class 1, 2 or 3 lasers when it comes
to my eyesight.

Eyesight is too important to let the FDA decide how long a laser can be
shot into an eye before it is damaged. Plus you don't know exactly what
laser you have.
http://www.vrac.iastate.edu/~heroje/574/lasersafety.htm

Dave