Posted By steve e ashton
Oh dear.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/...asia-pacific/6923915.stm

No comment from me.

Steve

Posted By Mark Eastbourne
...am aware that phtocopiers are not deemed a hazard.

Toner
13 Toners are fine powders which have a faint plastic odour. Depending on the the size of the copier, they are typically composed of iron oxide or manetite, organic charging agent, acrylic or polyester resin, carbon black and/or inorganic pigments, amorphous silica, and salicyclic acid chromium (III) chelate. There are 8-hour TWA OESs for dust of 10 mg/m3 (total inhalable) and 5 mg/m3 (respirable), for iron oxide of 10 mg/m3 (total inhalable) and 5 mg/m3 (respirable), and for amorphous silica of 6 mg/m3 (total) and 3 mg/m3 (respirable).

14 Exposure to total inhalable dust during the use of photocopiers has been measured in the range 0.05-0.23 mg/m3, well below the OES for total inhalable dust. The toner component was found to be less than 20% of the total inhalable dust, and therefore exposure to the individual components was well below the respecive OESs.

15 During normal use, toner dusts are not considered to present a significant hazard to health.

Posted By Paul Durkin
Thanks Mark,
I was going to ask which is the most hazardous; printers or photocopiers?
then I remenbered ozone !! Oh happy days measuring ozone using Draeger tubes. But seriously my Dept is considering, computer switching printing from the printers to a photocopier(cost saving !!!)
regards, Paul

Posted By Descarte
Dam I did look but couldnt see another topic on this, my bad.

Added mine on here and will flag my original for deletion.

---

Just thought I would add more hype to this story that is currently being emailed through out the UK and the world in office environments, and if you havnt seen or been asked about this yet you are probably lucky!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/...asia-pacific/6923915.stm

We all know that office printers can be a source of noise and potentially Ozone (citation?), however this new study found a five fold increase in dust in open plan office areas during the day.

Obviously this is attributed to printer use and has nothing to do with movement of people, air, paper, clothing etc...

Either there is something lacking in this BBC report or in the study but how can they make this jump?

Des
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Posted By Paul Leadbetter
I have been unable to find the research report online but the New Scientist gives a more balanced summary: http://www.newscientistt...ay-pose-health-risk.html

Some of the printers tested emitted no particles and more emitted only low concentrations.

Paul

Posted By Sean Warburton
Umm, I'm surrounded by printers and copiers in my office, the desk facing me is used to house them all :(

Posted By Paul Durkin
Hi Kerry,
Used your link but got me to the American Chemical Society(ACS) which required user ID & password. However general searches on the topic of toner dust can lead you to a manufacturer(HP) who has the best & worst at releasing (low levels) of this dust.Advice:'Use them at night & suck out the air by morning' !!!
As for cigi smoking will this now result in the worried well banning printers/copiers ?
WARNING: TO BE READ ON SCREEN ONLY.
Regards, Paul

Posted By Roger Bragg
Does anyone know if the authorities are taking action to get all makes of office printers and copiers tested?

We are using a mix of HP and Epson products.

Posted By peter gotch
Hi DavidW

Not the way I read the report...

Nowadays there is little doubt as to the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ), since modern society tends to spend the vast majority of time in various types of indoor environments.
In addition to the penetration of pollutants from outdoor air, most indoor built environments contain air pollution sources that release fibers, particles, organic vapors, or inorganic gases. Many studies have reported associations between health complaints and poor IAQ (1-3), and there is mounting evidence that exposure to poor IAQ leads to excess morbidity and mortality (4)

(1) Kreiss, K. The epidemiology of building-related complaints and illness. Occup. Med. State of the Art Rev. 1998, 4, 575-592.
(2) Stenberg, B.; Eriksson, N.; Hoog, J.; Sundell, J.; Wall, S. The sick-building-syndrome (SBS) in office-workers - a case-referent study of personal, psychosocial and building-related risk indicators. Int. J. Epidem. 1994, 23 (6), 1190-1197.
(3) Nordstrom, K.; Norback, D.; Wieslander, G. Subjective indoor air quality in geriatric hospitals. Indoor Built Environ. 1999, 8 (1), 49-57.
(4) Sundell, J. On the history of indoor air quality and health. Indoor Air 2004, 14, 51-58.

I don't pretend to be an expert on this, but from reading Prof Morawska's CV, her credentials seem impressive.

Regards, Peter