|
|
|
|
Home >
Publications >
| Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2007 #9 |
| Office Printers Are as Hazardous as Secondhand Cigarette Smoke |
|
| Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
The (Unfounded) Scare: Breathing in ultra-fine particles (UFP) released from office printers causes health problems comparable to those caused by secondhand smoke.
Origin of the Scare: A study published in the August issue of the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science and Technology tested emissions from 62 different printer models.(46) The results showed that 27 percent were labeled high emitters. The study also found that indoor particle counts in office air increased fivefold during work hours due to printer use. The UFP are considered pollutants, and because they are so small there were claims that they could be inhaled deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. A similar study was performed in Canada. In this study, 27 percent of the printers were considered high emitters, that is, printers that emit more than 10 times the UFP normally found in air.
Media Coverage: This story appeared in many media outlets such as CNET News, AOL News, and BusinessWeek. Headlines such as “Having a desk next to an office printer may be as bad as sitting next to someone who’s smoking, scientist says” were definitely meant to frighten the general public.(47) Stephen van Eeden, a Canadian scientist, was quoted as saying, “Just per mass, the amount of small particles that you inhale if you sit anything from two to three feet from the printer is about the same as sitting next to a person that smokes.”(48) A particularly flagrant exmpale of irresponsible coverage was the headline in Business Week that read “Printer Emissions as Bad as Cigarettes?” This headline could easily be understood to imply that UFP are not merely being compared to being near a smoker but indeed are as harmful as being a smoker – clearly a ridiculous comparison.
The Bottom Line: This is an example of how far people are willing to go to scare the public. There are no indications that UFP emissions from laser printing systems are associated with special health risks. Nonetheless, the EPA is supporting efforts to identify any possible health effects of UFP. To compare the health risks of sitting next to an office printer to those of secondhand smoke (even though the effects of secondhand smoke, as opposed to the effects of smoking, have themselves sometimes been exaggerated) is false and irresponsible.
|
|
|
| Table of Contents |
|
Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2007
Scare #1: Lipstick Is Toxic (Lead in Cosmetics) Scare #2: Fluoridated Water Jeopardizes Your Health Scare #3: Red Meat and Processed Meat Increase Cancer Risk Scare #4: PFOA Causes Low Birth Weight Babies Scare #5: Nitrites in Cured Meat Cause Lung Disease Scare #6: Roses Are Toxic Scare #7: Rubber Ducks Are Toxic (Phthalates Endanger Children) Scare #8: Vaccines Cause Autism Scare #9: Office Printers Are as Hazardous as Secondhand Cigarette Smoke Scare #10: Water Bottles Cause Cancer References |
|
|
|
|
|
| Published: December 2007 |
|
| Paperback |
| ISBN: N/A |
|
|
|
|
|
