Study: Your Laser Printer Could be Bad for Your Health, IAQ

August 6 2007

http://www.ohsonline.com/articles/49530/

Certain laser printers used in offices and homes release tiny particles of toner-like material into the air that people can inhale deep into lungs where they may pose a health hazard, scientists are reporting in a forthcoming study in the online issue of the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, classified 17 out of 62 printers in the study as "high particle emitters" because they released such elevated quantities of particles, which the researchers believe to be toner, the ultrafine powder used in laser printers instead of ink to form text and images. One of the printers released particles into an experimental chamber at a rate comparable to the particle emissions from cigarette smoking, the report says.

Thirty-seven of the 62 printers, on the other hand, released no particles that diminished air quality. Six released only low levels, and 2 medium levels. All printers were monitored in an open office, and the researchers recorded data on three laser printers in an experimental chamber. The study included printer models popular in the United States and Australia. Most of the printer-generated particles detected were ultrafine, said Lidia Morawska, Ph.D., explaining that such contaminants are easily inhaled into the smallest passageways of the lungs where they could pose "a significant health threat." Previous studies have focused on emissions of volatile organic compounds, ozone, and toner particles from office printers and copiers. However, the research left broad gaps in scientific understanding of particle emissions and airborne concentrations of particles, the report notes.

The study found that indoor particle levels in the office air increased fivefold during work hours due to printer use. Printers emitted more particles when operating with new toner cartridges, and when printing graphics and images that require greater quantities of toner. Funded by Queensland Department of Public Works and The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation, the ES&T report includes a list of the brands and models in the study classified by amount of particles emitted. As a result of the study, the scientists are calling on government officials to consider regulating emission levels from laser printers, but Morawska says that more research on the health effects of inhaling printer-generated particles is needed. As a first step to lower risk, people should ensure that rooms in offices or houses are well ventilated to allow airborne particles to disperse, she says.