• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Laser printers and their health risks

A

akapaulk

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 21, 2002
Messages
1,315
I almost bought the HP 1012 Laser Printer today. My dad happened to glance at my monitor and told me that if I buy this printer he'll throw it out the window. He said that a laser printer is meant for the office and not for a bedroom (where my computer is). He mentioned about the 'dust' that it generates and of possible health issues. This got me thinking and I did some research. Indeed he is correct.

Would you buy a laser printer for your home computer? I was under the impression that I won't have to spend $20 a cartridge every 1-2 months. Is it worth it?

Please advise your thoughts and suggestions.

Regards,

PK
 
Well, i bought one for my freshman year at college, and i still havent changed the first toner. Been rougly though 4 or 5 reams of paper. No idea about the dust factor, but ive had mine im my bedroom for about 3 years now. But i havent seen any toner dust anywhere around it.
 
I've got a laser printer and they are indeed mucho better as far as cost of supplies is concerned. I've never had anyone mention any kind of dangerous dust from printers, although I've never done any research. However, suffice it to say that people probably spend as much time at work as they do at home in bed.
 
Put it this way. I have a laser printer in my bedroom. It is a Samsung ML-1710. It is made for home use. I know that laser printer fumes aren't the best for you, but I have noticed that my 1710 doesn't put out the "stink" that the big HPs do. Does that really mean anything; who knows.
 
I have a Samsung ML-1750 and I'm okay...except the fact that I'm in a hospital right now because the laser is radioactive and the toner is made with Cyanide, oh and it uses Coal for energy.
 
.... and cell phones give your head tumors, CRT's give turn the front of your body into cancer, and laptops cause infertility in men... why not add to the list of our favorite everyday goodies that kill us?
 
rumor has it that longhorn will solve all of these issues...and only crash 3 times a day...and only need 6 gigs of ram....and cure cancer...

EDIT: and create world peace

EDIT2: the only SIGNIFIGANT health risks posed by a laser printer would be if someone dropped one on your head from a 2nd story window...or if you took apart the toner cartridge and tried to eat the toner....
 
Sheazle said:
or if you took apart the toner cartridge and tried to eat the toner....
Click to expand...


mmmmm..........toner. Who eats toner anyway. Everyone knows you snort it. :eek:
 
brom42 said:
mmmmm..........toner. Who eats toner anyway. Everyone knows you snort it. :eek:
Click to expand...

I thought you used the needle to do toner. Hmmm...I guess I've been doing it wrong all these years. No wonder I never get high but my veins turn black.
 
the only time i see toner anywhere or someone senses paper dust is in the datacenter that i work in and we have both our printers going full blast printing inventory, the faster of the 2 is 45 PPM, with home printers you don't need to worry about anything
 
i actually had a lser printer running on the nightstand next to my bed (short cord) for about a year and a half.

im perfectly fine
 
Ive had a laser printer beside my desk for almost 10yrs now, in fact ive gone through 3 HPs and 2 Lexmarks

*shrugs*
What can i say, i go through alot of printers, B&W Porn is not going to print itself








j/k I really do print all my porn in color

(sorry couldnt resist)

Never heard about any problems relating to dust from lasers, I assure you if there was any proven or possible health risks theyd be slapping warnings all over those boxes, to avoid any lawsuits of course
 
r00k said:
.... and cell phones give your head tumors, CRT's give turn the front of your body into cancer, and laptops cause infertility in men... why not add to the list of our favorite everyday goodies that kill us?
Click to expand...

hah yeah, ask your dad about those. having a laser printer in your room is fine, im sure dust mites will kill you before any laser printer does, itll break before you die from it.
 
But that is the short term. People who worked with asbestos didn't develop symptoms for years even decades later. This could be the same thing. But hey, it's America - if it was labeled for home use and ends up being the cause of yer suffering, do what we do best - sue the bastards!
 
I don't know about others, but the laser printer gets used a TON more at work than mine does at home. Also worth noting....the air circulation at my home is a TON better than the air circulation at work. I get black boogers at work, I don't get boogers at home.
 
Network the printer to the bathroom :p

the 1012 is nice, starts up much faster than my old samsung :)
 
My buddy is a professional laser printer operator. He spends his days working with two enormous laser printers running off jobs requireing tens of thousands of paper. He has been doing this for 3 years, and is in perfect health.

While I can't deny that there is probably some sort of risk to your health being in near proximity of one, so is being near a CRT monitor, outside under the sun, infront of a microwave, using your cell phone, etc.

My point is that the harm to your health is so negligible that this isn't a real issue. If you want to get a laser printer get one, you'll be fine.
 
i think that toner dust/particles could get into the air but i think it would depend on how frequently you print. i've been repairing HP, Lexmark, and Okidata laser printers for several years and haven't had any health problems. If you're worried, though, occassionally take out the toner and drum then vacum the inside to remove any loose toner.
 
I asked some of the guys on the LaserJet design team and was told the following. Older laser printers did have a fine dust residue that turned many of the internal components black, and would sometimes scatter around the printer on a desk. They never were really a health concern because it wouldn't be airborn, to float around a room. The newer printers, within the past couple of years, have been designed better, and keep the dust within the cartridge.

If there was a health risk, they wouldn't be in offices either, because most of those are encolsed as well.

The printer in question your were going to buy, the 1012, is an extremely nice printer for the cost. It works well, gives off no dust, and has a small footprint. I saw Office Depot or OfficeMax...maybe Staples...were selling it for $150. That's a hell of a deal, and if you compared the per page cost to an inkjet, it's much much cheaper.
 
Looks like your dad needs a couple swings upside the head with the BAT OF KNOWLEDGE! I'm sure a car's exauhst is ten times as harmful to you as any emissions a laser printer may give off. I've had my HP Laserjet 1100 for almost three years, got it for $50. Anyway, I haven't seen a speck of toner dust anywhere in around or on the printer it doesn't even smell like those old big and slow printers.

The Bat of Knowledge: Vanquishing Ignorance one crushed skull at a time!
 
Depending on the model, I know for a fact, some HP printers spew toner into the air. On our HP Color LaserJet 8550, it has these air filters on the vents on the back. Everytime I change them, they are literally Orange with toner powder, another is yellow.

Most of the others have some black powder(toner for sure) near the vents on the back of them.

I dunno if it will kill me, but im sure its not good stuff.
 
Everybody knows if you add the nosmoke.bat file to your autoexec file it'll keep your PS from making that acrid smell now and then.

Maybe some coder out there could make up a nodust.bat file too.

Hey, just an idea!
 
djnes said:
I asked some of the guys on the aserJet design team and was told the following. Older laser printers did have a fine dust residue that turned many of the internal components black, and would sometimes scatter around the printer on a desk. They never were really a health concern because it wouldn't be airborn, to float around a room. The newer printers, within the past couple of years, have been designed better, and keep the dust within the cartridge.

If there was a health risk, they wouldn't be in offices either, because most of those are encolsed as well.

The printer in question your were going to buy, the 1012, is an extremely nice printer for the cost. It works well, gives off no dust, and has a small footprint. I saw Office Depot or OfficeMax...maybe Staples...were selling it for $150. That's a hell of a deal, and if you compared the per page cost to an inkjet, it's much much cheaper.
Click to expand...

Yeah whatever you do don't buy a HP 3si, toner everywhere, we use to have several at work before we ran into a surplus of printers due to chapter 11(sucks), most new printers work well at keeping toner contained though, as stated
 
k1pp3r said:
Yeah whatever you do don't buy a HP 3si, toner everywhere, we use to have several at work before we ran into a surplus of printers due to chapter 11(sucks), most new printers work well at keeping toner contained though, as stated
Click to expand...

I actually have a working 3si under my desk at work. It's not currently hooked up, but I still keep it as an antique! It did spew some dust back when I used it.
 
Just put a air purifier or ionizer near the printer if you are worried.....
 
djnes said:
I actually have a working 3si under my desk at work. It's not currently hooked up, but I still keep it as an antique! It did spew some dust back when I used it.
Click to expand...

I have 4 :D
 
i got a 4si from work.. it is in the basement of my mom's house and i slept down there for 6 months in the same room as it... that thing is HUGE.. but it has a nic in it so we can print from any computer without having to keep a computer on as a print server..

just get it and put it in your closet or in a different room if your dad is going to be such a bitch about it.. or tell him that he has to buy all of your toner cartdriges...

also.. kyocera printers have waste toner, don't ask me why.. but i used to dump it straight into the trash and work every few weeks because i could never find the empty plastic waste toner recepticles.. and the dust would sometimes make a decent sized little cloud but it wouldn't go up more than a foot or so out of the trashcan..

just remember that the human body is really resiliant.. but enough of anything will cause harm too... smoking and drinking and even eating fast food is probably much worse for you than breathing in a little toner every once in a while..

everything in moderation.. or is that anything in moderation.. ??
 
Perhaps he is thinking of the ozone they put out. They do put out ozone, and ozone loves to create free radicals which are not good for your bodies, but you'd have to huff the air coming out of a laser printers for years to do anything noticable.
 
Whatsisname said:
Perhaps he is thinking of the ozone they put out. They do put out ozone, and ozone loves to create free radicals which are not good for your bodies, but you'd have to huff the air coming out of a laser printers for years to do anything noticable.
Click to expand...

so are you saying everytime i use a laser printer i am repairing the ozone? sweet!
 
Regarding ozone, it was a concern with older laser printers with corona wires, but newer laser printers don't use corona wires, so they don't release ozone. The old ones did have activated carbon filters to absorb the ozone. Also, the ozone released doesn't really help the ozone; it won't ever make it up that high.
 
I'm confused, your dad said he would throw the printer out the window because it will collect dust??? Oh, only because everything in this damn world collects dust. Might as well throw my computer out the window right now. As for office vs. Home. Um...thats the lamest logic I've ever heard. Just because I live at home I shouldn't have a laser printer? What...no. Buy the printer, stop spending money on ink cartidges, get higher more precious images and be happy.
 
Yes, you are confused. You should reread the original post, and consider the posts that follow it.

akapaulk said:
He mentioned about the 'dust' that it generates and of possible health issues.
Click to expand...

the keyword is generates, not collects. Yes, obviously most things in this world collect dust. What he is referring to are the tiny particles, usually smaller than dust, which have been linked to causing lung cancers of various kinds etc. just read the posts...
 
r00k said:
Yes, you are confused. You should reread the original post, and consider the posts that follow it.



the keyword is generates, not collects. Yes, obviously most things in this world collect dust. What he is referring to are the tiny particles, usually smaller than dust, which have been linked to causing lung cancers of various kinds etc. just read the posts...
Click to expand...

Well, I did read. And I just worded things a little badly. Sorry. I still find it ridiculous that he would mention that as a reason NOT to buy it...
 
LOL this HP printer is dust-resistant! At least the cleaning ladies won't have to touch it :p

Thanks guys for the replies! Great posts!

PK
 
Pretty much all the hazards they listed were in the event you spilled the toner. Even the article starts out saying toner isn't really harmful.

As for me, been using a laser printer at home for years. I've got a HP 4+, and it doesn't seem to leave any dust around it. It does have an ozone smell on occassion when printing a lot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top