Retailers asked to limit sales of laser pointers.
Daily Yomiuri, Dec 18, 2000
The International Trade and Industry Ministry on Friday asked retail organizations to impose a voluntary restriction on the sale of laser pointers, designed for use in classes or meetings, due to an increase in the number of injuries to children's eyes caused by the devices, ministry officials said.
[The 21st century equivalent of "Don't run with scissors?"]
The organizations include the Japan Department Stores Association, the officials said.
Currently, the Japan Industrial Standard uses five categories to rank laser devices according to their perceived level of danger.
The ministry asked that all laser devices ranked in the top three danger categories be subject to the self-imposed sales restriction, the officials said.
It also asked that devices ranked in the lower two categories, whose danger is perceived to be comparatively low, be subject to the restriction unless they are labeled with warnings of their potential harmfulness, the officials said.
According to the ministry, imported laser pointers, which have become popular children's toys, now are available for as little as 100 yen from toy-shop vending machines.
A study conducted by the ministry's product-research center concluded that 12 of 14 randomly chosen laser pointers were "highly dangerous."
Due to the fact that many of the devices are imported products, it is difficult to impose regulations at the manufacturing stage, the officials said.
Since 1997, when a professional baseball pitcher was forced to leave the field during a game after a laser device was pointed at his eye by someone in the stadium, 12 cases of laser-related accidents have been reported to the ministry and other organizations.
The cases included a serious one in which a young boy burned his retina with a laser, which had lasting effects on his vision.
In addition to asking retail organizations to restrict sales of the devices, the ministry has requested that primary and middle schools nationwide encourage adults to supervise children when they use laser pointers, the officials said. |
