| Title: | Review of the characteristics and possible health effects of particles emitted from laser printing devices |
| Author(s): | Gu J; Karrasch S; Salthammer T; |
| Address: | "Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry, Fraunhofer WKI, Braunschweig, Germany. Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Inner City Clinic, University Hospital of Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1600-0668 (Electronic) 0905-6947 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Many studies have shown that the use of laser printing devices (LPDs) contributes to the release of particles into the indoor environment. However, after more than two decades of research, the physicochemical properties of LPD-emitted particles and the possible health effects from exposure to particles are still heavily debated. We therefore carried out a critical review of the published studies around emissions and health effects of LPD-emitted particles, aiming at elucidating the nature of these particles and their potential health risks. Realizing the varying methodologies of the studies, a classification of the reviewed studies is adopted, resulting in three categories of emission studies (chamber experiment, office/room measurement, and photocopy shop measurement), and three types of health studies (in vitro/animal studies, human studies in the real world, and human studies in controlled settings). The strengths and limitations of each type of study are discussed in-depth, which in turn helps to understand the cause of divergent results. Overall, LPD-emitted particles are mainly condensed or secondary-formed semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), while solid toner particles account for a very small fraction. The health risk from exposure to LPD-emitted particles is small compared with the health risk from exposure to ambient particles" |
| Keywords: | "Air Pollutants Air Pollution, Indoor/*analysis *Environmental Monitoring Humans Particle Size Particulate Matter *Printing *Volatile Organic Compounds emission exposure indoor air quality laser printer risk;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineGu, Jianwei Karrasch, Stefan Salthammer, Tunga eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review England 2020/01/17 Indoor Air. 2020 May; 30(3):396-421. doi: 10.1111/ina.12646. Epub 2020 Feb 3" |
