Indoor air quality for chemical and ultrafine particle contaminants from printers

There are various emission sources of chemical contaminants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone and particulate matter. This report is a study into the indoor air of a room containing either a laser printer/ink-jet printer, and the air contaminations were monitored for VOCs, ozone and ultrafine particle. The result confirmed an increase in the concentration of ozone and ultrafine particle numbers in the printing processes of the printer. The emission of VOCs and ozone were measured by the use of a test chamber. The chamber concentrations of styrene, xylenes and ozone were increased in printing process of the laser printer, and pentanol was detected from the ink-jet printer. The results suggest that an office or residential printer may be a source of indoor air contamination. It is necessary for emission from printers to monitor not only VOCs and particle but also ultrafine particles and other contaminants in indoor air.