Is Your Printer Slowly Killing You?

Everyone knows that cigarettes are bad for you, and the second-hand smoke is also quite dangerous to your health. But what if I told you that your innocent-looking printer in your office was just as dangerous?

According to a recent study performed by the Queensland University of Technology has shown that the average laser printer can emit harmful clouds of ultra-fine particles. The areas around the printers were found to have a concentration of particles that were "five times higher than outdoor levels often produced by traffic."

These findings don't really surprise me, as I used to work for a company that refilled toner cartridges and repaired laser printers. It was impossible to keep anything clean in there, we had one room that just had printers used for testing, no loose toner was ever used in there, yet everything would still be covered in black. I always wondered how much damage that would do to a person's lungs. I guess now I know.

Laser printer particles as dangerous as cigarette smoke? [via engadget]