August 6, 2007

A new study out of Australia has found out that working next to some laser printers is just as unhealthy as working next to a smoker! Just when you thought your office was safe, yet another reason to think otherwise! This may be yet another reason why many people working in large “recycled air” office buildings suffer from sick building syndrome.

Study Findings

• 62 printers tested
• 60% of printers emitted no particles at all
• 27% of laser printers are considered high particle emitters
• one out of the 62 printers produced the equivalent of a smokers cigarette
• cartridge age and toner coverage (on printed page) are risk factors
• some printers may emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Ozone and various particles
• concentration of hazardous substances in the office where significantly higher during work hours then non-working hours
• during working hours, indoor air quality was WORSE then air quality found outside
• very few studies exist regarding harmful byproducts of printer (electronic) usage

Emitter sorted by Printer

Results for Printer Emission Investigations, Based on the Ratio of Submicrometer Particle Number Concentration Peak Value Emitted by the Printer to the Background Value (measured by P-Trak)

non-emitter (ratio 1)

• HP Color LaserJet 4550DN
• HP Color LaserJet 8500DN
• HP LaserJet 2200DN
• HP LaserJet 2300dtn
• HP LaserJet 4 plus
• HP LaserJet 4000N
• HP LaserJet 4000TN
• HP LaserJet 4050N
• HP LaserJet 4050TN
• HP LaserJet 4si
• HP LaserJet 5(b)
• HP LaserJet 5000n
• HP LaserJet 5100tn
• HP LaserJet 5N
• HP LaserJet 5si
• HP LaserJet 5si/NX
• HP LaserJet 8000DN
• HP LaserJet 8150DN
• Mita DC 4060 (photo copy)
• RICOH Aficio 2022
• RICOH Aficio 3045
• RICOH Aficio 3245C
• RICOH Aficio CC3000DN
• TOSHIBA Studio 350

low level emitter (ratio < 1.1-5)

• Canon IRC6800
• HP LaserJet 5M
• HP LaserJet
• 9000dn
• RICOH
• CL3000DN

middle level emitter (ratio < 5.1-10)

• HP LaserJet 1020
• HP LaserJet 4200dtn

high level emitter (ratio > 10)

• HP Color LaserJet 4650dn
• HP Color LaserJet 5550dtn
• HP Color LaserJet 8550N
• HP LaserJet 1320N
• HP LaserJet 1320n
• HP LaserJet 2420dn
• HP LaserJet 4200dtn
• HP LaserJet 4250n (old)
• HP LaserJet 4250n (new)
• HP LaserJet 5
• HP LaserJet 8000DN
• HP LaserJet 8150N
• TOSHIBA Studio 450

What is Toner anyhow?

Toner is mostly made of plastic which is in the form of very small particulates which then adhere to the page as it gets printed by the printer. It does not evaporate like water, it travels by air currents and what doesn’t settle on paper eventually does so on surfaces such as desks, chairs, floor and any other office equipment or people. If you vacuum your office, be sure to get one that traps particles down to 0.3 microns in size to pickup this particulate matter, otherwise, your lungs will be the eventual filter.

The Bottom Line

This isn’t the first study confirming that indoor air quality is worse then that found outside, so always keep a window open next to your workplace.

Buzzvia
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es063049z.html

Second medical opinions should be standard for serious conditions or when a doctor tells you that you suffer from a disease which you disagree with. Here is what can happen if you don’t.

Story

A doctor labeled his patient to be insane instead of diagnosing him as a multiple sclerosis sufferer. Although his family disagreed with the diagnosis, they went along with it for close to 17 years! As his condition progressed, his deterioration was simply labeled as mental decline and it wasn’t until a few years ago that the patient visited a local hospital neurologist that this was discovered. They are now seeking compensation for this medical error.

The Bottom Line

Medical professionals are as prone to human error as the rest of us but the consequences can be far more severe.

Buzzvia
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/07/03/qc-misdiagnosis0703.html

No matter your opinion on China, you have to admire their ability to swiftly and systematically deal with problem, even though the steps taken are sometimes deeply misguided. Here are a few examples:

Chinas One Child Policy

Back in 1979, China realized that with a population exceeding a billion people, they where in for some huge problems in the future if they didn’t enforce some sort of birth controls. Rightly or wrongly, China became overly aggressive in it’s “One Child Policy”. From giving new moms forced sterilizations at hospitals once they gave birth without asking for consent to introducing astronomical fines onto families who could barely afford to feed their family. Fair, no. Better alternatives? Yes, but this is by far the most efficient manner of controlling a population growth curve. The results? Based on their own numbers, they have prevented over 300 million new mouths to feed.

Chinas Execution of Chef

For many years, China has had an aggressive anti-corruption policy with it’s officials. If you take bribes or cause harm to others without party approval then expect your head to be on the chopping block once you’re found out. This policy has affected mayors of some of the biggest mega-cities in China and now, the head of the agency responsible for making sure products produced in China are safe. Mr. Zheng Xiaoyu, 62 was convicted to death for taking over 850 thousand dollars in bribes from 8 companies so that their defective products could make it to market. He had one appeal which failed which means he is already history. The results? Government officials will think twice before screwing their own citizens.

Chinas Pollution Problem

Athens had a major pollution hurdle to overcome before being allowed to host the Olympics but that was nothing compared to what China is facing now. Although they have among the toughest pollution policies of any government, they fail terribly in the area of enforcement. It’s no secret that China has become the factory for the world, they easily out-compete Mexicans, Americans and just about every other nation on Earth. I met a backpacker a few weeks ago that spent a month in Beijing and you know what they told me? They said they hadn’t seen the sun for a month! No, the weather wasn’t bad, it was simply the pollution was so great it was literally blocking out the sun! Chinas solution? Close all the factories during the Olympics and relocate major pollution creators outside of the city! I am sure they are paying a little more attention to the laws on the books as well but when just about all your power comes from coal and the government owns the largest tobacco company in the world, I am not keeping my hopes up.

What does all this mean?

Well, pollution, forced sterilization and defective products allowed onto the marketplace may seem like three separate problems but they are all related. It’s called Health! I believe China is in for a HUGE crunch to say the least in the very near future. As the life expectancy of its citizens drops due to environmental contamination without a new generation to take care of them, how will it solve this mother of all problems? I believe over the next two decade, China will have no choice but become the healthiest nation on Earth via fines, forced exercise regimens and killing bad habits. You are slowly seeing this take shape in North American and Europe but China will have to do a real 180 when it comes to health for its own sake, being communist, they can move extremely quickly in this positive direction. You cannot have an unhealthy army without loosing influences, you cannot have sick farmers producing good products from a contaminated environment and you cannot have efficient citizenry when they are constantly calling in sick.

The Bottom Line

With all its problems, China will either have to make health priority number one or perish.

Buzzvia
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B10BF52B-2382-4F60-AD91-060A67FA3BC8.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/10/china.execution.reut/index.html