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Posted By Lisa Hope
Office Printers are a Health Risk. So stated on 31st July on BBC website. Australian investigation found potential dangerous levels of toner particulates in air from 2/3rds of printers examined.
We have many open plan office spaces, most of which are struggling for space. Wanted to ask whether there is a best practice for locating printers particularly observing a specified distance between printer and employee to reduce risk of inhalation of toner particles. Also is anyone aware of a datasheet available in realtion to this which may offer more information.
thanks in advance
Lisa
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Posted By Bill Elliott Lisa - not ALL laser printers see http://www.newscientistt...ay-pose-health-risk.htmlwhich relates to the same research. Regarding the proximity of persons to printers etc, the London Hazards Centre (do a search on Google) has a "Photocopier and Laser Printer Hazards Factsheet" that you can freely download which may help you.
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Posted By anon1234
Personally I think the London Hazards Centre advice sheet is a bit OTT - the way it is written suggests that printers are a major risk to health. Whatever happened to sensible risk management?
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Posted By Granville Jenkins
Hi Lisa
You will probably find on the health and safety data sheet that comes with a printer that there is a line that states something along the lines of 'adequate ventilation' - what is adequate ventilation?
The issues with any form of printer is that they give of very fine particles (invisible to the naked eye) and which after several years may make white walls (assuming you have white walls) start to look rather dirty and when you wipe an area with a wet finger it leaves a smudge mark!) The problem from a health and safety aspect is that these particles are respirable (that is they can reach the far edifices of the lungs never to see daylight again and gradually clog up the lungs - probably a good analogy is the chimney sweeps of old, who suffered chronic lung problems due to the inhalation of soot (carbon dust) - what does printing ink contain! Good old carbon!
On top of the carbon emissions of laser printers you will need to consider ozone - ozone is not as friendly as some people make out, fine it can help clean the air but it does this by changing the polarity of the dust particles so that they are attracted to earth (no different to the home air purifiers), however, ozone is viable for something like 40 seconds during which time it can disperse through the air (being a gas it will endeavour to fill the space) if you happen to sit next to the printer (well let's just say its not a good idea!
OK a bit like thunderstorms the occasional short exposure to ozone may not be a bad thing for most people, however. long term exposure on a low level may be a totally different animal to confront) and one that yet has to show the full extent of its health effects, after all laser printers have not been around that long. The problem with ozone is that it is a respirable gas, what may be even more disturbing is the interaction ozone can have with saliva which then provides an access route to the digestive tract - not so much for the ozone but the elements it has either robbed of oxygen or changed at some molecular level - welcome to new technology!! Its a brave new world for pioneers of the modern office!!
Apologies for going on - obviously the subject hit a nerve of some sort. I wish you a pleasant day.
Regards
Granville
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