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OCCUPATIONAL HEA LTH UPDATE

Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch

Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme (WHPSP)

Date:August 23, 2007

SUBJECT:

Laser printers & particulate matter emissions

ISSUE:

Do laser printers represent a particulate matter hazard in the federal workplace?

Background:

Particulate matter (PM ) is defined as airborne solids or liquids suspended in an air column or air matrix. Particulate

matter may be characterized in various shapes and forms and includes particles, aerosol, dust, fog, fume, mists, smog,

fibres and smoke that are suspended in the atmosphere. The most common atmospheres are referred to as ambient air

(outdoors), or indoor air such as a workplace or residential space. Normally, a wide va riety of differing types and

concentrations of particulate matter exists in both outdoor and indoor environments. Certain individuals who may have

pre-existing conditions that breathe airborne particles may develop health effects related to a particular type of exposure

[6, 7, 12].

PM standards and guidelines have been developed to protect human health in environments such as outdoor (ambient)

air and indoors (workplace, residential homes).

The ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist) Thresho ld Limit Values (TLV’s) applies to

federal workplaces and is regulated under the Canada Labor Code (CLC) Part II. A T LV is the concentration exposure

limit that nearly all workers can be exposed to for an 8-hour day and a 40–hour work week for a lifetime without

developing an adverse effect. Other guidelines are contained in various provincial statutes regulating ambient air quality

and provincially-regulated occupational settings. In addition, Health Canada has developed guidelines for acceptable

residential indoor air quality [4, 5].

Recently, laser printers have received attention regarding their PM emissions. Previously, there has been some awareness

of laser printer emissions and associated health effects focusing on VOC (e.g. volatile organic compounds), ozone and

fine particles, including ultra fine particles, emitted by printers. Some research papers have indicated or associated

potential health effects in workers in the occupational setting [9, 10, 11].

A recent research paper [9] evaluated the particle emission characteristics of selected office-style laser printers. The

study investigated the particle number and respirab le par ticulate matter emissions from the printers. No data on the

compositional analysis was conducted by the researchers. In addition, no measurements of general ventilations rates were

taken in the on-site portion of the study. The investigators categorized the printers in to four groups; non-emitter, low,

medium or high emitter.

The study yielded amounts of approximately 0.002 mg/m3 (or 2 ug/m3) which is extremely low compared to acceptab le

occupational exposure standards (CLC Part II, ACGIH: 3.5 mg/m3 for carbon black and a guideline level of 3.0 mg/m 3

for respirable particles not o therwise specified) and/or acceptable indoor air quality guidelines or standard (H ealth

Canada: PM 2.5 at 0.1 mg/m 3, 1 hour exposure [1,2,3,4,5,8]. Since the measured levels of particulate are so low,

exposures to particulate matter of this nature are not expected to produce adverse effects in most individuals in the

workplace.

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Current Situation:

At the present time, there is very limited scientific research or conclusive evidence regarding the interaction between

ultra-fine particles, compositional analysis and demonstrated health effects. As this area of aerosol research is increasing

and evolving, the need for increased awareness about suspended dust or particulate matter, especially the ultra-fine

particle fraction of particulate matter, becomes more critical to define the actual human health responses.

Based upon the most recent studies there appears to be no indication of any significant occupational hazard caused

by particulate matter (including the ultra-fine fraction) emitted from commercially available laser printers.

Recommendations:

If a concern is raised in the workplace concerning the use of laser printers WHPSP recommends that one or more of

the following ‘common-sense’ precautions be considered:

• In an office environment, reduce the volume of material to be printed when possible, or limit high

volume printing to non-core hours of operation.

• Ensure all printers are used in accordance with the Manufacturer’s instructions and are subject to

a preventative maintenance program based upon the Manufacturer’s Operating Manual,

• Ensure that building ventilation rates are in accordance with the requirements of the CLC Part II,

Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.

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APPENDICIES:

Bibliography:

[1] ACGIH 2007. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist. TLVs and BEIs Booklet. Based on

the documentation of the Threshold Limit Values for chemical substances and physical agents. And Biological

Indices. 2007.

ISBN: 978-1-882417-69-8.

[2[ ACGIH 2007. Guide to Occupational Exposure Values. Compiled by ACGIH .

ISBN: 978-1-882417-70-4.

[3] ASH RAE STANDARD. 2007 . Ventilation for Acceptab le Indoor Air Quality.

ISSN 1041-2336.

[4] Health Canada. 1989 Revised. Exposure Guidelines for Residential Indoor Air Quality. A report of the Federal-

Provincial Advisory Committee on environmental and Occupational Health. ISBN 0-662-17882-3.

[5] U.S Environmental Protection Agency. 2000. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 50. National Air

Quality Standards. www.epa/air/criteria.html.

[6] Fundamental of Industrial Hygiene, 2002 , 5 th Edition, by Barbara A. Plog & Patricia J. Quinlan. Chapter 8.

ISBN-13: 978-0-87912-216-4.

[7] Provisional Assessment of Recent Studies on Health Effects of Particulate Matter Exposure. National Center for

Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S> Environmental Protection Agency.

Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. Document reference: EPA / 600/R-06/063, July 2006.

[8] Canada Labor Code, Part II Regulations. ACGIH Guidelines are regulatory in Canada for federal activity or

process or department.

[9] Particle Emission Characteristics of Office Printers. By Congrong HE, M idia M orawska, & Len T aplin.

Environmental Science and Technology, August 1, 2007.

[10] Field Comparison of P-Trak and Condensation Particle. Yifang Zhu, Nu Yu, Thomas Kuhn and William C

Hinds. UCLA. Aersol Science and Technology. July 1, 2006.

[11] Indoor air quality for chemical and ultra fine particle contaminants from printers. Naoki Kagi & al., Building

and Environment April 2006.

[12] Klassen et al, 1986 , Cassarett and Doull’s Toxicology: the basic science of poisons, 3 rd edition. Chapter 3

(p59), Chapter 12 (p.391) Chapter 25.