On March 12, 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) solicited opinions on the mandatory national standard "Safety requirements for optical radiation of consumer laser pointers (draft for comments)", with the deadline set for May 10, 2024.

This standard specifies the optical radiation safety requirements for consumer laser pointer products, mainly including safety requirements, measurement and evaluation, labeling, and instructions. The standard applies to the production, testing, sales, and use of consumer laser pointer products with a nominal wavelength in the visible light range of 400 nm to 700 nm, including but not limited to laser pointers used for teaching, laser shooting simulators, laser aiming devices, and other laser products used for indication, entertainment, and office purposes. The standard does not apply to non-consumer laser pointers, such as specialized laser scanners, laser positioners, laser rangefinders, and laser pointers.

In the safety requirements section, this mandatory standard classifies consumer laser products into Class 1 laser product category in terms of optical radiation requirements, limiting the emission power to the Class 1 accessible emission limit (AEL) under the most stringent conditions. It also specifies the optical radiation, electrical, and functional requirements of the products.

In the formulation of this standard, the latest technical content from the IEC 60825 series was referenced, with considerations from the American standard ANSI Z136.1-2014 and the EU standard EN 50689:2021, ensuring basic consistency in safety parameters with international standards.

This standard will introduce the requirements for detection and control of the output light of consumer laser pointer products, as well as increase the cost of producing labels indicating the product's optical radiation safety level. Overseas companies involved in related industries should pay attention to the potential impact of this standard.