Slashdot Mirror
Office Printers May Pose Health Risks
drewmoney writes "The BBC reports on new findings which may have implications for the way offices are laid out. According to an Australian study, around a third of modern printer models release 'potentially dangerous levels of toner into the air' as they are completing a job. 'Almost one-third were found to emit ultra-tiny particles of toner-like material, so small that they can infiltrate the lungs and cause a range of health problems from respiratory irritation to more chronic illnesses. Conducted in an open-plan office, the test revealed that particle levels increased five-fold during working hours, a rise blamed on printer use. '"
Depends if this is particulate toner after thermal processing or particulate toner in the form found in the cartridge.
Dunno about the former as it is bound to have larger and less active particles, but the latter is a known health hazard on par with glass dust and asbestos. Just look at any IT health and safety handbook under "dealing with toner spillages". It is supposed to be collected using specialised vacuum cleaners, you have to have the floor tiles replaced and so on. Unfortunately very few people follow these procedures.
Further to this, I find these findings quite strange. Most manufacturers go to insane lengths to avoid toner emission into the air so that they do not get an asbestos style class action suit.
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
Eh, maybe for smaller office printers they do but not in the commercial "toner" printing industry (like phone bills and the like). My company's printers (and our competitors) dust the entire room at an alarming rate. After working on a more dirty problem it's very likely to come out looking like a coal miner, black snot and all.
The problem is these get installed in your typical raised-floor computer rooms in the same area as storage and CPU's, sometimes not more than 10-20 feet away.
Toner isn't asbestos. Sure it's particulate and it may even be harmful (as an obstruction, like anything else) but there are way too many lifelong printer repairman in my company and lung/breathing issues are no more common here than anywhere else. I know a large number of them personally and the health problems just don't exist in any substantial amount. The division that deals with HDD and tape manufacturer has had a lot more public health issues with their materials.
Sure our company has funded studies which say Carbon Black is not harmful, but of course we all take this with a large grain of salt. I rely much more highly on the people I have personally known over the years.
Further to this, I find these findings quite strange. Most manufacturers go to insane lengths to avoid toner emission into the air so that they do not get an asbestos style class action suit.
Today's my last day on the job as my company's resident "printer bitch." After a year and a half on the job I can safely say that most the toner emission doesn't usually come from normal use. It comes from directly from fucksticks.
Over time, printers will spill some toner that will eventually work its way out of the printer and into the air. It happens. But more often than not you get huge toner spills because some idiot goes slamming and banging cheap cartridges. Apparently, the non-technical response to any printer or fax problem is "pull the toner out and put it back in" (I think this is directly related to the "take out the cartridge and blow on it" NES repair method.) this invariably leads to someone getting pissy, slamming the cartridge back in the machine, and breaking a seal. Now you've got toner spilling out every time someone dicks with the cartridge. I've cleaned out printers that took multiple vacuum filters to clean out. Panasonic faxes were the worst for this, their carts. would crack and spill in a heartbeat.
People can bitch about this as an office hazard, but if the employees would act like adults around the equipment, it wouldn't be an issue in the first place. But no, some idiot thinks it'd be cool to pull a Samir on the fax machine.
(actually, I think I will will pull a Samir later this afternoon. I'll just take the toner out first...)
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
For the record, that "fresh printer smell" is Ozone generated by the high-voltage corona wires charging the drum (and the air). Toner is just a really dry feeling in your nose.
I agree with the moderation, though...funny :)
I used to repair copiers and printers for a living. I would come home and have to blow my nose to get all the toner out. Never noticed any ill effects. I'm sure there are some people who might be allergic, but not many. Toner is mixture of polyester, carbon, and wax, none of which is known to be very harmful. Check the MSDS. http://www.lanier.com/page.php/toner%20msds. Perhaps the color toner is worse, they did not have that in my day.
Probably just another alarmist story from the UK...
Actually, the LJ 4 and later don't emit ozone at all.
Asbestos wasn't really that bad.. to have around. But to work with it was pretty dangerous. In fact, just about the worst thing you can do is remove it. Which is what made the whole rush to remove all the asbestos everything so absurd: It was a non-problem unless you went mucking around tearing things up. The sensible thing to do would be to require the special protection or teams to remove it before demolishing the building, and just stop installing it in new buildings.
So Asbestos isn't really a very good analogy at all: The thing that puts asbestos in the air is the deliberate and unusual act of removing it. The thing that puts toner in the air is the regular operation of a poorly designed printer.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!