September 25, 2007

Are Printers Bad For Your Health?

By Taeho Lim

A Scientist from the Land Down Under Gives Printer Emissions the Once Over

You learned at a young age that everything comes with a price. But did you ever think your printer could actually pollute the air you breathe? We did back in June when we asked Printer Pundit Art Diamond this very question. As it turns out, we were prescient, not paranoid.

Last month, Professor Lidia Morawska of Queensland University of Technology in Australia published a study asserting that particle emissions from your printer could cause just as much damage as standing next to a smoker.

Morawska based her initial conclusions on results from 50 printers scattered throughout an office building and several printers studied in a special chamber. Morawska believes that the age of the ink or toner and type of printer affects emissions levels. Overall, she classified 60% of the samples as "non-emitters" and 27 of the remaining 40% as "high emitters."

As you would expect, some high-profile dissenters in the printer industry responded to Morawska and her study. HP disputed the study's findings and vowed to continue its own tests on printer emissions.

We decided to go straight to the source to get some answers. Morawska agrees on the need to conduct more tests before making any definitive conclusions about the health effects of printer emissions. Apparently, the United States Environmental Protection Agency hasn't studied printers in ten years.

Her advice? "In the meantime, if you can, put the printer in a separate well-ventilated area," recommends Morawska.

Read Morawska's report, Particle Emission Characteristics of Office Printers.

About Databazaar Blog
Virtually everyone who uses a computer uses a printer. But computers get all the glory. So we launched this blog to give printers their due. We hope you find our coverage enjoyable and useful, and encourage you to subscribe and participate.