PRINTERS CLEARED OF TONER DUST HAZARD , BUT ……….

[Anonymous]

http://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/laser-printers-cleared-of-toner-dust-hazard-490583
Laser printers cleared of toner dust hazard ,But ultra-fine particles still causing concern
Office
workers can breathe easily now that German scientists have shown that
laser printer emit ‘hardly any’ particles of black toner, a potential
carcinogen.A previous study by the Queensland University of Technology
found that printers emitted clouds of particles that were five times
higher than levels outside, which they assumed could include
potentially dangerous toner dust.However, researchers at the Fraunhofer
Wilhelm Klauditz Institute in Braunschweig looked into exact
composition of the emissions.”Some printers do emit ultra-fine
particles made of volatile organic-chemical substances,” says WKI
Professor Tunga Salthammer. “But one essential property of these
ultra-fine particles is their volatility, which indicates that we are
not looking at toner dust.”

Toner deaf
The scientists
confirmed their conclusions by testing a range of printers without any
paper or toner in them – and still detected the ultra-fine
particles.They concluded that the particles were coming from the
printers’ fixing unit – a component that heats up as high as 220°C
during the printing process in order to fix toner particles on the
paper.Ultra-fine particles are produced by many household gadgets that
have an electric motor or heating element – such as toasters – but
little research has been done into their possible toxicity.In any case,
say Fraunhofer boffins, there’s nothing to be done: “Our investigations
show that as the ultra-fine particles are not emitted from a specific
part of the printer, but also from the paper output, filters can only
have a limited effect.”

[Author]

December 3, 2008 at 10:23 AM