FDA cites dangers
of laser light shows

By TIMOTHY YAGLE
Add the Blue Oyster to the ever-
growing list ofrthings that may be
hazardous to your health.
This is the latest warning from the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
the same folks who extolled the dangers
of food coloring, hair dyes and aerosol
sprays, among others.
THE PROBLEM WITH the Blue
Oyster Cult is not oysters or cult ac-
tivities. It's lasers.
The cult is a rock band whose
speciality is heavy metal music. The
group uses a laser light show during its
concerts, as do other bands, like Led
Zeppelin, Electric Light Orchesatra,
Pink Floyd and Yes, who were also
named in the warning.
The lasers are beamed onto walls
with mirrors or specially-made vinyl
screens. They explode into fantastic
colors and make triangles and circles
that dance, pop, and dart through
space.
THE FDA REPORTS the lasers can
be harmful to the fans if the beams
strike their eyes. The cult apparently
thinks so, too, and is going to make its
act acceptable to the FDA.
Laser shows are also popular at
discos and art shows. Ordinarily the
beams, which emit light radiation, are
harmless if they are of the low-powered
variety. But the FDA's Bureau of
Radiological Health, which enforces
laws dealing with radiation exposure,

fears careless use of lasers might cause
burns or retina damage.
According to local ophthalmologist
Reimer Wolter, the damage the laser
can inflict depends on the power or con-
centration of the beam. Some beams
are so weak they cam impact the eye
and cause no damage. But more power-
ful beams can equal the damage of
staring into the sun, Wolter said.
'(A laser) could damage
the eye before you had
time to blink away from
it.
-FDA spokesperson
"IT COULD DAMAGE the eye before
you had time to blink away from it, and
the result would be a temporary blind
spot," an FDA spokesman explained.
The FDA notified rock groups and
laser manufacturers in November, in-
forming them of the minimum standard
of radiation it had set.
Rock groups are understandably mif-
fed. "It never occurred to most rock
groups that they'd ever have to worry
about radiation, let alone the Food and
Drug Administration, an FDA
spokesperson said.

The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, June 28, 1978-Page 11
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