eye exposure to blue light ( ~ 500 nm )

I'm hoping for some knowledgable feedback on this.

Suppose someone's eyes get beamed with blue light ( wavelengths around
500 nm ) for 10 full seconds. The person didn't close his eyes but
managed to slightly divert the direction of his stare. The light
source was around 20 inches away and was extremely strong to his
eyes.

The following morning, he wakes up with a headache and pain on his
right eye, both of which goes away in 1.5 weeks. It's been exactly a
month since the incident and he feels his vision is fine.

How likely is it that he suffered retinal/corneal damage from this?
Any permanent damages? Is there an increased likelihood for macular
degeneration, cataracts, etc. in the future from this event? Are
exposures from blue light cumulative in eye damage?

 

very unlikely. intense blue light is used during routine eye
examinations to visualize fluorescein staining.

 

But this isn't the same blue light for eye exams. Operators are warned
to shield their eyes for this one. Even a 1-2 second exposure to your
eyes ( even if you're not directly looking into it ) does cause
discomfort and even pain.

And this person also had headaches and eye pain for more than a week.

So even in this case, it's likely that the guy is alright and doesn't
require any treatment? Will this be cumulative towards other adverse
vision effects in the future? We're particularly worried about macular
degeneration, cataracts, glaucomas, ......anything that can induce
blindness now and into the future.

Thank you in advance.

 

No. My intentions behind the inquiry are strictly medical.

And by blue light, I don't mean an LED blue light. The blue light
we're talking about polymerizes photo-initiator camphorquinone in the
460-500 nm range. It's of industrial grade and operators are strictly
warned of eye hazards. Even if there aren't any current symptoms from
this incident, it's not easy for the laypeople to easily downplay,
especially if they aren't experts.

Feedback/input from eyecare professionals or knowledgable readers
would be highly appreciated.

 

uv-A and even visible blue light are defintely linked to macular
degeneration.
you should absolutely be using eye protection if you are going to be
exposed.

 

Only a direct exam by a doctor will answer any of these questions. Is
there a reason your friend would risk his eyesight on internet
diagnoses?

 

The incident occurred in early May.

So are you implying that his vision can worsen over time?

 

Would the exposure be as harmful as getting beamed by a laser
pointer?

And for this instance of blue light, is it going to be highly
significant for macular degeneration in the future ( or near
future ? ) ?

 

I think he is implying your friend should see a doctor.

Don W.

 

DING! DING! DING! And why aren't other posters, especially so
called eye docs suggesting this?

 

There is one paper (Framme: "Noninvasive imaging and monitoring of
the retinal epithelium patterns using fundus autofluorescense",
Current Medical Imaging Reviews, 2005, (available on a Google
search)) that mentions their use of blue light. Essentially this
monitors the retinal response to blue light of 500 nm. The paper
states the level of the light they use and says it follows the safety
guidelines of the Laser Institute. Unfortunately, it is a pay for set
of guidelines. They are at:

http://www.laserinstitute.org/

Good luck.

Don W.