Can a Flashlight Harm Your Eyes?
FEB 27, 2013
Question:
What are the effects of shining a very bright flashlight in the eyes during darkness? What lumens can cause eye damage when shined into the eye?
Answer:
Light from a standard flashlight cannot cause ocular damage. However, there have been numerous reports of retinal damage from laser pointers. Lumens measure the total amount of visible light emitted from a source, however this is not a good measure of the potential for ocular damage because it does not measure the amount of energy per unit area.