Emission of Ozone and Organic Volatiles from a Selection of Laser Printers and Photocopiers

Abstract

To estimate the impact of office equipment on the quality of indoor air, the emission of ozone and organic volatiles was measured from one photocopier and four laser printers, three of which operated according to traditional corona discharge technology. The laser printers equipped with traditional technology emitted significant amounts of ozone and formaldehyde. Lesser amounts of other volatile aldehydes were emitted during printing. The photocopier emitted mainly ozone. In a well-ventilated office environment, the amounts encountered here for individual volatiles were within recommended maximum exposure limits for a reasonable density of printers. Because it is not known whether the concentration of irritating volatiles, such as formaldehyde, should be kept lower in an ozone rich environment or not, and because emissions in the immediate vicinity of the printers exceeded recommendations, the authors recommend that laser printers equipped with the traditional corona rods not be placed beside or immediately at the working site of office personnel. This way, ozone concentrations can be kept below recommended maximum exposure limits, provided that the ventilation rate is adequate. Further, it seems that if a reliable quantitative comparison of total organic volatiles prior to and during printing is to be made, the inertness of the sorbent toward ozone should be confirmed.

Quantification of the relationship between fuser roller temperature and laser printer emissions

“…It should also be noted that the O 3 emission rates of these printers during monochrome printing were comparable to the results reported by Tuomi et al (2000) who tested 3 HP printers.…”

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon, Haematological and Oxidative Stress Levels in Commercial Photocopier Operators In Lagos, Nigeria

“…The operators are exposed to toner (while reloading and unloading the machines) and to toxic gases like ozone, nitrogen dioxide, volatile organic compounds and extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields during their operation [8][9][10][11][12] . Majority of these agents have been reported to be mutagenic or genotoxic in either bacterial or mammalian systems.…”

Oxidative Stress and Potential Free Radical Damage Associated with Photocopying. A Role for Ozone?

“…[1,2] Some authors have reported that laser printers and photocopiers emit significant amounts of ozone, organic volatiles and formaldehyde during printing or operating process in a badly ventilated office environment, thus leading to oxidative stress and potential oxidative damage of the operators' bodies. [1,2] However, up to now, there are no reports on changes of free radical reactions in the bodies of photocopying operators (PO) who are working in the badly-ventilated office environments, nor reports about the relationship between oxidative stress and potential free radical damage associated with photocopying.…”

“…[1,2] Some authors have reported that laser printers and photocopiers emit significant amounts of ozone, organic volatiles and formaldehyde during printing or operating process in a badly ventilated office environment, thus leading to oxidative stress and potential oxidative damage of the operators' bodies. [1,2] However, up to now, there are no reports on changes of free radical reactions in the bodies of photocopying operators (PO) who are working in the badly-ventilated office environments, nor reports about the relationship between oxidative stress and potential free radical damage associated with photocopying. To estimate the impact of photocopying on indoor air quality, to study oxidative stress and potential free radical damage to the PO bodies, and to explore a role for ozone emitted during photocopying process, 80 PO and 80 healthy volunteers (HV) were enrolled in a random control study design, in which the level of lipoperoxide (LPO, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS) in erythrocytes and the levels of vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE) and b-carotene (b-CAR) in plasma as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in erythrocytes were determined by spectrophotometric methods.…”