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Laser printers contributing to office pollution

Posted Aug 01, 2007 at 01:53PM by Karl B. Listed in: Environmental Campaigns, Self Well-being Tags: Toshiba, Ricoh
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Laser printers contributing to office pollution - Image 1


A new study has discovered that laser printers contribute to indoor pollution according to Ars Technica. The study, which will be published in Environmental Science and Technology, was originally conducted to "explore the relationship between office and outdoor air in terms of fine-scale particulates."

After finding that particulates in the office rapidly increased during work hours, the study's authors deduced that a specific activity was causing the difference due to "suspicious looking spikes in particulates during this time". The team's monitoring equipment eventually pointed towards the office laser printer as the culprit.

An examination of laser printer emissions from 62 printers throughout a typical six-story office building in Brisbane revealed no particular pattern in terms of printer models and manufacturers. The printers examined consisted mostly of HP printers and a few Ricoh, Canon and Toshiba models.

The preliminary studies showed that the age of the toner cartridge influenced both the amounts of particulates produced and their average size. Prints that covered 50 percent of a page also doubled emissions compared to a print that covered only 5 percent of a page.

According to Ars Technica, the study's authors have suggested that a more careful study should be done on this issue, as some of the printers included in the study produced particulates equivalent to those produced by smoking in a domestic setting.

[Via Ars Technica] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

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