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29 November 2007

Draft Standards for IPL Protective eyewear up for review

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) technology is gaining increasing use within the medical/cosmetic/beauty therapy fields. Claimed treatments using IPL sources include removal of age spots (sun-induced freckles), of many benign brown pigments and of spider vein redness. Broad spectrum light is filtered to produce wavelengths that are optimal for the treatment envisaged and the skin type involved.

One of the problems to date has been the specification and availability of suitable protective eyewear to give adequate protection to both the patient and the operator.

Work has been initiated through the British Standard Institution (BSI) Technical Committee PS2/3 to produce standards for suitable protective eyewear for these IPL applications. The Health Protection Agency has led the efforts to produce the standards. This work has resulted in the publication of two draft documents for comment:
Document 07/30162194 DC – Draft BS8497-1:2008 Eyewear for protection against intense light sources used on human and animals for cosmetic and medical applications – Part 1: Specification for products;
Document 07/30162197 DC – Draft BS8497-2:2008 Eyewear for protection against intense light sources used on human and animals for cosmetic and medical applications – Part 2:User guide.

Details of these documents can be found on the BSI website at http://www.bsi-global.com/en/Search-Results/?q=8497.

Attention is drawn to interested parties that these documents are in the review stage which currently expires on 31 December 2007.

Comments should be made directly to the BSI Technical Committee PS2/3 (the Secretary is Emma May at Emma.Mayo@bsi-global.com) or alternately to the Project Leader for this work - Marina Khazova at the HPA.

Contact: Marina Khazova
E: marina.khazova@hpa.org.uk


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