Reprinted from
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Printers Are
Injecting Ozone
Into Offices
By Frank Edward Allen

THE OZONE GAS produced by laser printers and photocopy machines is raising health concerns.

In the U.K., scientists recently found that office workers who share space with copiers and laser printers are exposed to as much as 10 times the amount of ozone that's considered safe.

The Danish Technological Institute tested such equipment in 200 offices and discovered that the internal filters often clog and stop working after about a year, emitting unhealthy amounts of the gas, which can cause respiratory ailments, nausea, headaches and premature aging of skin. The risk is considered greatest in small and poorly ventilated work spaces where the gas can't break down easily.

Concerns about ozone are spreading in the U.S. as desktop models gain popularity. BIS CAP International, a market researcher in Norwell, Mass. estimates that 4.2 million laser printers are in use nationwide, including about 1.7 million units purchased in 1990.

Until recently, Apple Computer had been comfortable leaving original ozone filters in place for the life of its LaserWriter machines. But now, the company recommends replacement after about 30,000 pages. Explains a spokeswoman: "Dust becomes the culprit. The filters lose their effectiveness."

Hewlett-Packard, which has about three million laser printers in use worldwide, says its newest machines produce much less ozone than older models. Ozone filters are designed to be changed every 20,000 to 30,000 pages, says Russell Buschert, Hewlett-Packard's toner product manager. "It's hard to get the word out." Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has any rules governing emissions from such equipment.

Reprinted from
THE ALLENTOWN EXAMINER

Are Your
Office Machines
Poisoning You?
By Melanie Wood

POISONOUS OZONE GAS is seeping through dusty laser printers in doses 15 times more concentrated than that shown to cause damage to humans in laboratory tests, scientists have discovered.

Ozone, a form of pure oxygen and a natural by-product of the electro-photographic process, is trapped and broken down by charcoal filters inside the machines.

But recent studies have shown that these filters are easily clogged by dust that renders them useless and sends dangerous levels of ozone into the office.

The way the system works is the extra atom of oxygen that makes ozone hazardous bonds to the charcoal as it passes through the filter. When the filter is clogged, the ozone blows through the room in its pure form undetected.

Hewlett-Packard spokesman Russell Buschert said the problem was recently discovered and can be eliminated by changing the filter on the laser printers every 25,000 to 30,000 prints.

"Originally we thought we could keep the filters for the duration of the printer," he said. "Now in our brochures we recommend they change them every year." Studies both here and abroad have shown that short-term exposure to ozone reduces lung capacity, causes respiratory problems, headaches and sometimes nausea. Longer exposure to the gas can lead to fibrosis, scarring of the lungs and the destruction of antigens. And like the carcinogenic Radon gas discovered seeping into buildings through crevices, ozone is invisible and causes irreversible damage to the lungs.

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