Ask questions via twitter! Message any question to @answers on twitter. We'll publish the question and send you a reply each time there's a new answer.

Warning About Health Questions


 

Mahalo Answers is a great place to start your research into Health questions, but it's not the final answer.

Mahalo Answers is not a substitute for informed professional advice. If you desire or require professional advice, please consult a qualified provider who is licensed in your state or country. You should always seek independent professional advice before acting on any opinion, advice, or information available on Mahalo Answers.

 
 


Next Question

Answered Question

 
M$1 January 30, 2009 06:46 PM

Are laser printers dangerous to your health?

I've been sitting next to two huge laser printers for the past month or so. Like one foot away and three feet away. Is there anything toxic about sitting this close to them
Interesting Question?  Yes (0)   No (0)   
RSS
 
 

Best Answer  Chosen by Asker

 
January 30, 2009 07:10 PM
I'm not a doctor, but many people sit next to them or near them, and they usually don't cause too much harm, as long as you are not sticking your nose in them and inhaling the ink toner cartridge dust or anything like that. Ask yourself, are you having eye irritation, or mouth irritation (or coughing) from sitting next to the printer, can you smell the printer everyday? If you can smell it, and it is causing you to feel sick, it's best you move the laser printer to another room, as it could likely be causing minimal harm, yet it's likely it's not as bad as smoking a cigarette.  It's not safe to conclude that these laser printers are totally hazardous to your health, but usually the closer you are to them, isn't as good for you. Although some studies have shown that there are laser printers that emit carbons that lower the quality of air, the quality of air decrease is probably less than walking by a running automobile. As long as you are in a well ventilated area, you should be fine. It's kind of like the complaint about those ionic air purifiers, they aren't hazardous to your health anymore than laser printers.

You probably don't have too much to be concerned about, unless you are printing pages all day, and breathing it in all day. Just think, if you live in a big city and you stand outside working on the concrete and roads all day, or in dusty construction zones or coal mines, there are certainly worse things worse for your health. There are people who smoke all day, and that's certainly worse than any laser printer you can imagine.

To my knowledge nobody has ever died or become seriously ill from sitting next to a laser printer unless they do some crazy things like inhaling all day. This is just like them saying mobile phones are bad for your health, or any home appliance is bad for your health. If there's anything they could say that's bad for you, they could say it!  However, just to be extra cautious, you may want to sit more than a foot away from this laser printer if you can, open a window to get some fresh air flowing in, or get one of those fancy air purifiers, and then you might really see how much dus this laser printer is emitting.

Source(s):
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2007/08/02/printing-could-be-hazardous-to-your-h...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291737,00.html



Helpful Answer?  (0)   (1)    Tip easyeboy for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 

Other Answers (4)

Sort By
 
January 30, 2009 06:50 PM
I would say, a firm...maybe:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=5855
"Citing inadequate scientific techniques for particle analysis as well as HP’s performance within certain international standards and guidelines, the company is disputing the claims of the Australian researchers. Those researchers discovered the problem by chance when “an investigation of office ventilation systems, carried out jointly between the university and the Queensland Department of Public Works, found five times as many particles indoors as those produced by traffic outdoors. Using an electronic sniffer, researchers traced the emissions to printers.” As can be seen from the response below, HP notes that even the emissions from toasters cannot be “accurately characterized,” thus drawing into question any conclusion that the emissions from laser printers could pose health risks."
...
"he IARC evaluated carbon black, as a Group 2B carcinogen, for which
there is inadequate human evidence, but sufficient animal evidence. The
latter is based upon the development of lung tumors in rats receiving
chronic inhalation exposure to powdered carbon black at levels that
induce particle overload of the lung. However, there is a two-year
inhalation study of a toner containing carbon black which demonstrated
no association between toner exposure and tumor development in rats."

Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip nativenerd for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
January 30, 2009 06:59 PM
Particulate inhalation is always a potential issue, not even necessarily from a carcinogenic perspective. Diesel exhaust and other similarly-fine particulates have been shown to be harmful.

Toner is made up of very fine carbon-based particles, along with other chemicals to help it set and bond to the paper when heated. It's not a huge leap to say that one should probably limit their exposure, if for no other reason that excessive exposure to anything is not necessarily good.
Source(s):
University of Michigan study on fine particulate inhalation:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/13/1534?eaf

Some printers classified as 'High Particle Emitters':
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/showArticle.jhtml?article...

Some cleaning tips emphasizing safety:
http://us.deskdemon.com/pages/us/techcenter/changing-laser-toner


Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip alexdegruven for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
January 31, 2009 12:19 AM
One time at work, a coworker and I had to take apart a laser printer that was malfunctioning. Apparently, the toner cartridge was defective as the instant we pulled it out of the printer, the air was filled with colored toner. As luck would have it, I was having sinus problems, and later that day, when I blew my nose, my mucus came out blue.

It was pretty creepy. But it didn't make me sick otherwise!

Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip philipdistefano for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
January 31, 2009 01:19 AM
According to an article on WebMD, they pose a potential health risk:
"Some home and office laser printers emit possibly harmful amounts of small-particle air pollution, Australian researchers find.
"The very fine particles emitted by laser printers could be a problem, as such small particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs."


Source(s):
http://www.webmd.com/news/20070801/laser-printers-emit-indoor-pollution


Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip sara for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 

Answer this Question

How tips and payments work

This question has already been resolved. You may add an answer to it but you will not be eligible to win best answer or any associated tips.

Ask a Question


140 characters left
Top of Page
Buy Mahalo Dollars with Credit Card or PayPal

Top Members

This Week All Time
  • cfinke
    cfinke
    2nd Degree Black Belt
    29661 Points
    M$29.75 Earned
  • bunnyphuph...
    bunnyphuph...
    2nd Degree Black Belt
    22162 Points
    M$803.99 Earned
  • opher
    opher
    Purple Belt with a Brown Tip
    7005 Points
    M$365.37 Earned
   See All
 

Most Popular Tags

mahalo(1852)
music(536)
iphone(497)
google(400)
online(385)
food(371)
money(313)
beer(306)
movies(304)
apple(268)
health(243)
video(239)
aotd(235)
free(234)
dog(219)
travel(218)
   See All
 

Categories

Welcome New Members


 
 
Mahalo Dollars are the currency of Mahalo Answers.

Each Mahalo Dollar costs $1.

Once you earn more than 40 Mahalo Dollars, you can request to be paid via PayPal. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. Learn More

 
 

Please log in to use this function.