Extreme Weather – South Florida
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010www.pcfitness.net – Extreme Weather – South Florida
Posts Tagged ‘bad’
INCEPTION : HOLY FUCK IRL EXTREME WEATHER EDITION
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010inspired by this reddit thread: www.reddit.com
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Extreme Bad Weather-part 2/2
Thursday, April 15th, 2010IMPRESSIVE SAILING in PERFECT STORM Navegacion Impresionante en Tormenta Perfecta (Riders on the storm) 2/2
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Extreme Bad Weather-part 1/2
Sunday, April 11th, 2010IMPRESSIVE SAILING in PERFECT STORM Navegacion Impresionante en Tormenta Perfecta (Riders on the storm) PART 1
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Bad For Your Health: Laser Printers?
Sunday, March 7th, 2010It’s almost as though the more technology we have, the more health risks there are. For example, laser printers have been looked at closely to see if they could be causing any health risks. It has been said that spending time around a laser printer while working is almost just as bad as breathing second-hand smoke from a frequent smoker. The difference is that you can both see and smell second hand cigarette smoke to avoid it. Unless laser toner emissions are concentrated into a small area, they tend to be invisible and odorless. Even if you know where they are, they can still be hard to detect.
As always, there are different opinions on either sides of the issue. HP has even been doing its own testing ever since they were accused of being the worst of the polluting printer companies. According to what they said, the ventilation ducts at particles in them that were like toner, but they couldn’t confirm that it was toner. They also cannot identify the source of the particles in the printing system. However, different parts of the printer could be emitting them, not just toner and rollers.
Hewlett Packard is most likely the spotlighted company because their printers are the most popular. Out of a study of 42 printers from one building, 34 were HP. What’s scary is that 13 of those were labeled “high emission”, and they can vary within the same printer model. Hewlett Packard maintains that their machines are well within the standard indoor occupational laser toner exposure limits. The debate rages on, and who knows what the conclusion will be.
Whether you believe in the dangers of air-born pollutants from laser printers or not, there is another potential hazard; a flammable one. The average person doesn’t understand how laser toner is transfered to the paper. Therefore, they most likely don’t realize that the particles are electrostatically charged. If enough tiny particles of toner get inside of a normal vacuum cleaner, there is the chance, however small, that it could ignite and cause a fire.
There are specially made vacuum cleaners for the purpose of picking up electrostatically charged particles; sometimes called “Electrostatic Discharge-safe” vacuums. HEPA filters are also installed in them. Although conventional vacuums may have a filter built into them, it probably is not efficient enough to trap the minute toner particles. As a result, the toner is dispersed back into the air or may even clog the motor over time.
Of course, each side has its own tidbits of truth. There are dangerous particles in the indoor environments we call businesses and home offices. Whether these particles come only from laser toner, or if it’s generated by several different machines at the same time, is very hard to determine. All we know is that being vigilant in replacing and maintaining filters and ensuring proper ventilation will achieve the best results until manufacturers of office equipment develop new and healthier alternative technologies.
