Monday, September 08, 2008

Perilous Printer?


The source of this article is from Reader’s Digest, December 2007, written by Patricia Curtis.

Maybe the content of it explains why there is high percentage people nowadays are suffers from cancer disease. In my opinion, it has got to do with the modern living environment from one’s home and office.

If you are working in the office environment and sits near to laser printer, laser facsimile, digital copier and other office automation equipments that consume toner, you may already expose yourself to the risk that caused health problem.

Suggestions:
Put some potted plants around the printers.
Keep distance between the printers with workstations.
Instead of owning laser facsimile, printer and copier, get the all-in-one multi function printer, for example Canon MF4150, MF4270 (network ready), etc.

Article: Perilous Printer

I thought paper jams were a pain, but your printer may actually affect your health: An Australian study looked at 62 office laser printers in constant use and found that 17 emitted high levels of ultra fine particles into the air. Long documents and dense photos are the worst offenders. The particles are the same size as those from cigarette smoke and car exhaust and can get into your lungs, says coauthor Lidia Morawska, PhD.

But don’t panic, says Rich Sextro, PhD, of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “Candles and cooking also produce similar particles, but we really don’t understand the health effects of ultra fine particle inhalation.” If anything, the flecks have been linked to respiratory problems, but we don’t know if it’s the composition of the particles, the amount or something else that causes problems. “Would I throw away my laser printer? I think the answer is no. Would I make sure I didn’t have one that got used a lot in a small room without much ventilation? Yes, I’d probably pay attention to that. But more research is needed, so it’s way to early to worry.”

In any case, printers emit particles only when they spit out pages. To be safe, move yours to a ventilated area.

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