Rather than reacting immediately to the ABC story [1] and recent newspaper reports which appear to be only commenting from the paper’s abstract, it is well worth the time to read the paper; “An Investigation into the Characteristics and Formation Mechanisms of Particles Originating from the Operation of Laser Printers” [2]
I quote from the paper [2];
” 2.1. Printers and Media. On the basis of the results of our previous work (1) and the classification developed, we selected two popular printers for this research, an HP 2200 (printer L) and an HP 1320n (printer H), the latter showing particle emission 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of the former, therefore described here for comparative purposes as “low” and “high” emitting printers, respectively.“
This classification into emitter class is based on the 2007 work into particulate matter from printers; vis “Particle emission characteristics of office printers” [3]. Our initial discussions were prompted by a report in the Age [4]. At the time of initial release of this paper and when we were discussing the issues, a copy of this original paper was printed out and placed into our magazine rack.
From the charts (Table 1. page 6042) located in this original paper [3] we were able to identify and allocate our HP, Toshiba and some Canon models into the categories of non-emitter, low level emitter, middle level emitter and high level emitter.
Using the existing standards [5] for dealing with fine particulate levels (mainly to do with printer proximity, adequate ventilation, and printer use volumes) we were able to perform an initial risk analysis on our printer fleet.
Although some of these issues had already been addressed in our SOE choices, in some cases remedial activity has been required. Based on the emitter category, the printers usage levels, the rooms ventilation and physical separation from staff various remediation activities were used for different cases (ie. individual risk assessments). Within our work areas the location and placement of printing devices is performed during deployment, and also during annual office EH&S audits.
The remedial actions varied, the following being a indication of the actions;
- replacing high emission printer models with low emission models
- relocating printers
- adding ventilation
- no action required
In the case of an HP Color LaserJet 5550dtn which is listed as a “high level emitter”; the print volumes, physical separation, room ventilation and levels of maintenance all contributed to a lower level risk assessment and as such without further advice from the EH&S office no action was taken (i.e. existing mediation was judged as appropriate in the EH&S audit).
In the case of the assessment of an HP LaserJet 1320N sitting on the desk beside a staff member, the printer was replaced with a lower emitter and relocate away from the staff member.
This new paper although adding to “how” the emissions are created does not add new data for our risk assessment of the printer placement and management.
Please note the last paragraph before the acknowledgements from the 2007 paper [3];
“The high standard deviation of the average emission rates estimated in this study also indicates that the particle emission process and the behavior of individual printers are complex and that they are still far from being completely understood. Many factors, such as printer model, printer age, cartridge model, and cartridge age may affect the particle emission process and all of these factors require further study.“
We don’t have all the information, but we can perform good risk assessments with the data sets that we currently have access to.
REFERENCES:
[1] Office printers could be dangerous to health: study (2009-Feb-17) [The Age]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/17/2493355.htm
[2] Lidia Morawska, Congrong He, Graham Johnson, Rohan Jayaratne, Tunga Salthammer, Hao Wang, Erik Uhde, Thor Bostrom, Robin Modini, Godwin Ayoko, Peter McGarry and Michael Wensing. An Investigation into the Characteristics and Formation Mechanisms of Particles Originating from the Operation of Laser Printers. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2009, 43 (4), pp 1015-1022
2.i. via UniMelb SuperSearch (need unimelb logon)
2.ii. via the Publisher (need to pay for access)
[3] He, C.; Morawska, L.; Taplin, L. Particle emission characteristics of office printers. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2007, 41 (17), 6039- 6045.
3.i. via UniMelb SuperSearch (need unimelb logon)
3.ii. via the Publisher (need to pay for access)
[4] Printers pose health risks: study (2007-July-31) [The Age]
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/printers-pose-health-risks-study/2007/07/31/1185647880054.html
[5] Steve Guggenheimer “Provide information on OH&S issues related to particulates from printers” EHS UNIT INFORMATION REPORT (2007-Aug-01)
http://www.pb.unimelb.edu.au/ehs/ehs/hazard_alerts/EHS%20UNIT%20INFORMATION%20REPORT.pdf
[6] Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage “Health Impacts of Ultrafine Particles: Desktop Literature Review and Analysis” (2004)
http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/airquality/publications/health-impacts/pubs/content-chapters1-4.pdf
