LegendaryLife.com Blog

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