The "Invisible Killers" in the Office
They are constantly releasing ozone, dust, noise, and electromagnetic interference, becoming the "invisible killers" in the office. In response to these "office pollutions" that harm people's health, the China Environmental Labeling Certification Center and other institutions have formulated the technical requirements for environmental labeling product certification for printers, fax machines, multi-function devices, and copiers, which have been implemented since March.
Recently, at a conference held in Beijing, attending experts emphasized that great importance should be attached to the environmental pollution caused by modern office equipment such as printers.
According to experts, the ozone generated during the use of laser printers, copiers, and multi-function devices is 1.65 times heavier than air and does not flow easily. Ozone is a strong oxidant, and high concentrations in the air can be harmful to the human body. The dust that escapes during use and small amounts of harmful gases such as styrene produced at high temperatures and speeds will be retained in the body after being inhaled by the user and cannot be expelled, and long-term exposure will harm the user's health. At the same time, these office equipment consume a large amount of energy even when in a standby state for a long time.
Modern office equipment such as printers contain many harmful substances. For example, components such as printed circuit boards and liquid crystal displays contain harmful metals such as mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium. Contact and inhaling these harmful substances can cause lung damage and tumors. When the plastic used to manufacture printers contains polyvinyl chloride, it can produce a highly carcinogenic substance, dioxin. When the harmful substance content in inkjet printer ink is high, inhaling the ink aerosol gas generated during printing and contacting the printed documents is also harmful to health.
The "Technical Requirements for Environmental Labeling Product Certification" formulated by relevant institutions of the State Environmental Protection Administration, with reference to relevant German and Nordic standards, sets upper limits for ozone, dust, styrene concentration, and operating noise generated during the use of modern office equipment. It provides detailed descriptions of the equipment's packaging, plastics, ink cartridges, batteries, etc., and puts forward specific standards for the environmental design, disassembly, recycling and reuse, and information disclosure of the equipment. It clearly states that components containing harmful substances must be labeled.
The China Computer Users Association Printing and Imaging Application Branch, which participated in the development of this standard, stated that although the technical requirements for this certification are not mandatory environmental protection standards, they will have a strong guiding effect on the production of these product manufacturers and the selection of products by a wide range of users, which is conducive to eliminating the environmental hazards of modern office equipment such as printers from the source of production.
Guo Chunxue, Secretary-General of the China Computer Users Association Printing and Imaging Application Branch, stated that they will actively recommend modern office equipment such as printers that have passed the environmental labeling product certification to the public. It is hoped that manufacturers of printers, fax machines, multi-function devices, and copiers will consciously implement the technical requirements for environmental labeling product certification and produce and sell green and environmentally friendly products. At the same time, they call on industry users nationwide to consciously resist products that have not passed the environmental labeling certification during industry procurement and bidding evaluations, and for the general public to do the same when selecting products in the market.
In interviews with reporters, it was learned that although office pollution has attracted the attention of relevant departments and experts, in fact, people seem to have "unspoken difficulties" when it comes to office pollution. An association in Beijing last year conducted an investigation into office pollution. Originally, hundreds of offices were required to be sampled, but very few offices applied for testing. Among them, many applications were made by employees without their bosses' knowledge, and the bosses seemed to have little interest in this matter.
The Hazards of Office Pollution
In the course of use, the environmental impact of printers, fax machines, multi-function devices, copiers, etc., is mainly the generation of ozone, dust, noise, and electromagnetic interference.
Hazards of ozone: Ozone can increase the production of tetraenoic acid in the lipid peroxidation process of human respiratory tract epithelial cells, which in turn causes inflammatory lesions of the upper respiratory tract. Long-term exposure to a certain concentration of ozone is prone to secondary upper respiratory tract infections. When the ozone concentration is 2ppm, short-term exposure can cause respiratory irritation symptoms, coughing, and headaches.
Hazards of dust: After humans inhale industrial dust, it can irritate the respiratory tract, causing inflammation of the upper respiratory tract such as rhinitis, pharyngitis, and bronchitis. At the same time, industrial dust can also irritate the skin, causing diseases such as dry skin, folliculitis, and pyoderma.
Hazards of electromagnetic waves: After being interfered with for a long time, one may feel physical fatigue, eye fatigue, shoulder pain, headache, sleepiness, and anxiety. Electromagnetic interference can also reduce the body's immune function and decrease the calcium content in the body.