An investigation on pollutant emissions from a laser printer using an environmental chamber

There has been a growing concern from the society about the health impact of printer emissions. In this study, different printing jobs with the consideration of percentage of toner coverage, cartridge rotation, and number of pages were tested in an environmental chamber with an air exchange rate of 0.8 h-1. The concentrations of particle number, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and the fuser temperature were monitored by P-Trak, MiniRAE detector and thermocouple, respectively. Eight combinations of printing job showed particle emissions whenever toner was consumed. Cartridge in rotation mode and the printer in idling mode for over 12 hours also caused particle emissions. In contrast, total VOC emissions during the printing periods were ignorable. We also found that fuser temperature had insignificant effect on particle emissions from the printer. This study confirmed that toner was the major source of particle emissions. Ventilation for a long period and/or printing blank pages reduced particle emissions.