Whiteboard risks

Interactive whiteboards used in education could be endangering the eyesight of teachers and students.

Papers obtained from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act say that "direct beam viewing of the optical output from this equipment [should be] controlled and restricted to no more than a few tens of seconds at a time".

Although most people do not look directly into the beam, their peripheral retinas could still be overexposed.