Posted on 08/03/2007 11:32:50 AM PDT by nuconvert
Your Printer May Be Hazardous To Your Health
Jul 31, 2007
I've long heard rumors that the fine particulate dust used in laser printer toner cartridges may be a health risk. It certainly makes sense: Not all of that stuff can stick to the paper, and if you've ever spilled toner you know there's no way it can be good for your lungs. Now a controlled study is confirming the information, saying that 30 percent of all laser printers tested emit dangerous particles described as "causing lasting damage on the scale of inhaled cigarette smoke." These tiny particles lodge deep in the lungs and can lead to anything from lung irritation to full-on cancer.
The tests come from an Australian technology university and were conducted in a "large open-plan space," and found that printers could increase particulate matter in the air by up to 400 percent.
While I'm still trying to obtain the list of high vs. low particle emitters from the university, there appears to be a lot of variability among machines and even among different toner cartridges. New cartridges, for example, produce more particle matter than old ones. Printing graphics pages also produces more particle matter than text, since more toner is used, and obviously, air quality gets worse the more pages you spit out. I'll post the full list of printers tested here (or a link to it) as soon as I can obtain one.
The upshot is that printer emissions should potentially be regulated much the way that auto emissions are, but even in the absence of government intervention, use common sense around your printer: Limit use when possible (tell the guy that prints out every single email to cut it out), sequester printers in their own rooms and away from workers, ventilate offices appropriately, and have your own air and printer tested before it becomes a serious health problem.
UPDATE: The full study is available online now (scroll down to Table 1, at the bottom, for the list of printers tested). HP LaserJets (the vast majority of the models tested were HPs) appear among both the best and worst on the list. Check it out!
LINK: Printers pose health risks: study
UPDATE: HP responds here
Is there anything that is good for us? I have two printers at work that are right in my office. I guess I will have to sue the companies for possible health concerns or death. /SARC!!!!
Planet Neurotica...
easy solution: just put the office printers outside next to the smoking corral. To save money reassign all smokers in the office to new jobs entitled “Document Management Specialists.”
Thanks for posting. Now my E.G.A.D.S. (Egregious General Anxiety Disorder Syndrome) is flaring up. Now where did I place my meds?...
/sarcasm
Toner is extracted from the cartridge as the charged paper moves by the opening, attacting toner into the charged areas. Those particles are then fused by the hot platen. There is no dust.
Paging John Edwards.....
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
printers could increase particulate matter in the air by up to 400 percent.....but what kind of particulate matter? Toilet paper dust, clothing dust, or ink? I don’t think I’d relay on these tests, too heavily. Did they have 400 running at the same time? Did they run 400 times as long as normal? Sorry.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.” -- C. S. Lewis
Most of us who have used printers for decades know that inhaling dust, any dust, is undesireable and potentially dangerous so we --- *gasp* --- avoid it!
Those that don't, well, call it natural selection in action. Hell, some of those clueless actually regularly shove stuff up their own noses!
Just saying.
LOL
During my 23+ years in the PC industry, no single piece of computer related paraphernalia has ever caused me the amount of stress as that caused by the two color ink jet printers I have owned.
My HP color deskjet finally suffered an extreme 'fall' to the floor, and had to be replaced. The Epson -which replaced the HP- is still dragging around in a closet somewhere, but I doubt I will ever spend another $75 to replace the color cartridges -- just to have them clog up again after four or five days of inactivity.
My laser printers just work, and work, and work... and have been doing so for years. I have printed many thousands of pages with these printers, and have yet to need replacement toner. When the time finally comes for replacement toner, I should be able to expect thousands more pages for under $100... unless some weenie with an inkjet manages to have laser toner banned -- for my own good, of course.
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