[Offtopic] Particle Emission Characteristics of Printers

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Hmm

Of the .. "40% of the printers that were emitters, 27% were classed as 
high submicrometer particle emitters"

<http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=7295>

School printers may pose health risk. 

Harmful particle emissions found in study of several common laser 
printers .. According to a recently published study, some commonly used 
printers are emitting toner particles. From eSchool News staff.

August 3, 2007—Some of the laser printers used in classrooms, dorms, and 
school administrative offices could pose serious health risks as a result 
of the harmful emission of toner particles, according to a study by 
Australian researchers. According to the study, released Aug. 1 by the 
Queensland Department of Public Works ..

<http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es063049z.html>

Environ. Sci. Technol., ASAP Article 10.1021
Web Release Date: August 1, 2007 
Copyright © 2007 American Chemical Society 

Particle Emission Characteristics of Office Printers 

Congrong He, Lidia Morawska and Len Taplin. International Laboratory for 
Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 
and Queensland Department of Public Works, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia 

Received / Revised / Accepted June 27, 2007

Abstract: 

In modern society, printers are widely used in the office environment. 
This study investigated particle number and PM2.5 emissions from 
printers .. <snip>

The monitoring of particle characteristics in a large open-plan office 
showed that particles generated by printers can significantly (p = 0.01) 
affect the submicrometer particle number concentration levels in the 
office .. <snip>

. 3.2. Printer Emission Investigation:

Following the above findings, an investigation into printer emissions in 
the building was conducted. Based on the ratio of particle concentrations 
measured immediately after the printer printed one page, compared to the 
background office concentrations, the investigated printers were 
catalogued into four different classes, in terms of their particle 
emission levels, including: 

non-emitters (ratio 1); low emitters (ratio >1 and 5), medium emitters 
(ratio >5 and 10); and high emitters (ratio >10). 

A total of 62 different printers were investigated, including various 
models from CANON, HP COLOR LaserJet, HP LaserJet, RICOH, and TOSHIBA.

Table 1 presents a summary of the results of the printer emission 
investigations, including printer brand and name, and the class of 
emissions. 

It can be seen that 37 of the printers were non-emitters, 6 were low, 2 
were medium, and 17 were high emitters. 

Overall, 60% of the investigated printers were non-emitters and of the 40% 
that were emitters, 27% were classed as high submicrometer particle 
emitters. 

It can also be seen that the same model of a printer (in this case the HP 
LaserJet 5) can act as either a non-emitter or a high emitter, and further 
investigation should be conducted for this phenomena..

In summary, the chamber measurements confirmed that particle emissions 
start immediately after the printer starts operating, and they showed that 
in general, size distributions of the particles generated by the printer 
are monodisperse. They also showed that particle number and size 
distributions vary..

Table One: <http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-
bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es063049z.html#es063049zt00001>
--

cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria, australia