New European laser product standards will be enforced！

Laura Cortes

Light sources are omnipresent in our lives, including Laser, LED or other traditional light sources, which we come into contact with when we open our eyes. Are these light sources that we have the opportunity to come into contact with harmful to our skin or even our eyes? In particular, there are many light sources that we have to touch or look at for a long time in our lives, such as electric toys, lamps, computer screens or projectors.

IEC published IEC 60825-1:2014, the third edition of Laser, in 2014 to assess the safety of laser, and IEC 62471:2006 in 2006 to assess the photobiological safety of light sources other than laser, which includes lamps and luminaires for general illumination as well as non-general illumination, and early projectors were assessed using this edition for non-general illumination.

In addition, the EU standard EN 60825-1+A11: 2021 will become mandatory on June 21, 2023, which means that certificates or reports that do not comply with the standard update procedure will be invalidated. A11 also mentions that the latest standard EN 50689: 2021, which will be issued in 2021 for consumer laser products, will become mandatory on September 27, 2024 for consumer products. This standard applies to laser products that are commonly encountered by consumers in the marketplace and has additional and specific requirements and assessments.

On March 27, 2022, CENELEC Europe published EN 50689:2021 Safety of laser products - Particular Requirements for Consumer Laser Products.The new standard was adopted on September 27, 2022 and is mandatory after September 27, 2024.

The earlier EN 60825-1:2014+A11:2021 specifies that consumer laser products will have to comply with this standard when EN 50689 is published.

CENELEC Official website link：

https://standards.cencenelec.eu

Product definition in EN 50689:2021:

Consumer laser product constitutes or contains a laser and is intended for use by the average consumer (non-specialist) or, even if not intended for the average consumer, is likely to be used by the average consumer under reasonably foreseeable conditions.

Excludes the following four categories of products:

? Excluding laser projection products with a wavelength of 380 - 780 nm that are expected to be used for a long period of time and projected directly onto the user's retina, such as VR and AR products;

? Excluding laser products that are used only by professionals and are unlikely to be used by ordinary consumers (compliance with the laser product standard EN 60825-1 is sufficient);

? Excluding toy products (compliance with the standard EN 62115 for electric toys shall be sufficient);

? Excluding consumer laser products of class 1C (Class 1C products: the product is in close contact with the irradiated person, the radiation leaking out does not exceed the class 1 level, and the laser light is only exposed to the surface of the human skin and not to the eyes. Examples include laser cosmetic devices, laser hair removal devices).

Additional requirements of EN 50689:2021:

Comply first with EN 60825-1 and then with the following additional requirements:

? Laser products that are attractive to children (not toys, but other exterior shapes, colors, functions, etc. that would attract children to play with and use them);

? The laser classification must be class 1;

? The level of laser radiation at any location does not exceed the maximum radiation values specified in Table A.5 of EN 60825-1:2014;

? If the laser wavelength is in the range 180-315 nm (UV field), the maximum radiation value does not exceed 0.001 W/m2;

? Compliance with other relevant regulations;

? Compliance with the requirements for batteries in EN 62115 (Standard for Electrical Toys).

Other consumer laser products:

? The laser classification may only be class 1 or class 2 or class 3R;

? The laser must not exceed class 3B in any position;

? The laser radiation during operator maintenance must not exceed the declared laser classification level.

For class 3R products there are additional requirements:

? It must not be a laser pointer;

? An explanation in the instruction manual as to why a class 3R laser is necessary and not a weaker class 2 or class 1 laser;

? be designed to avoid false triggering and have a corresponding indication of laser emission;

? Functionality or use does not require a direct view of the beam;

? The laser wavelength must only be in the range 400 nm ≤ λ < 1250 nm;

? For the classification of lasers according to EN 60825-1, C6 may only be assigned a value of 1;

? In the wavelength range 400 nm - 700 nm, the peak power of continuous or pulsed lasers within 0.25 s does not exceed the achievable laser limit of 0.5 W for class 3R;

? In the wavelength 700 nm - 1250 nm, the peak power of continuous or pulsed lasers within 100 s does not exceed the achievable laser limit of class 3R by 2 × C4 × C7 mW.

EN 50689:2021 Additional requirements for marking:

To comply with the marking requirements of EN 60825-1 and to fulfill the following additional requirements:

The reference standard is changed to EN 50689:2021 (it is permitted to mark both EN 50689:2021 and EN 60825-1:2014);

The consumer laser product must be identified.

Example:

EN 50689:2021 Additional requirements for instructions:

In addition to meeting the requirements within EN 60825-1, for class 3R products:

? A description of not intentionally irradiating persons; in the case of outdoor products, a reminder to the user to avoid irradiating persons with the laser;

? Description of the emission indicator;

? A description of the laser if properly triggered;

? A description of how the laser is triggered correctly; and An explanation that C6 takes the value of 1 when doing laser classification;

? Explanation of why a class 3R laser is necessary and not a weaker class 2 or class 1 laser;

? Explain why a class 3R laser is necessary and not a weaker class 2 or class 1 laser;

? Provide date, manufacturer or supplier information.

If you?have any requirements for laser product testing and certification, please feel free to contact our business window at any time!

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