Printers 'may pose health risk'

Breathing in dangerous particles from office printers could be as bad as inhaling cigarette smoke, a study suggests.

The tiny pollutants - which researchers believe come from toner used in laser printers - can be breathed deep into the lungs potentially threatening workers' health, Australian scientists say.

More than a quarter of printers examined by a team led by Dr Lidia Morawska at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane were classed as producing high concentrations of the particles - one even at a rate similar to cigarette smoke.

Levels of the ultrafine particles soared to five times their previous level during office hours when printers were in use as well as increasing when new cartridges were installed, the research published in the American Chemical Society's journal Environmental Science & Technology found.

Printing pictures or diagrams - which use more toner than plain text - also appeared to drive up the levels of particles in the air.

As many as 17 out of 62 printers used in the study were described as "high particle emitters".

But the tests, carried out in a typical open-plan office, found that 37 others released no potentially harmful particles while six released only low levels of them, and two produced medium levels.

Three printers were also monitored in a special experimental chamber.

The team came across the finding by accident during what was initially an investigation into how efficient office ventilators were in keeping out pollution from outside.

Dr Morawska said most of the particles detected were described as ultrafine - meaning that they were small enough to get into the deepest parts of the lung - posing a "significant" threat to health.

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