LASER PRINTERS: A NEW ECOLOGICAL HORROR STORY

Expert Urges Caution In Dealing with Popular Technology

NEW YORK, April 11, 1994 -- Laser printers are fast and efficient, offering
the slickest quality copy available among all makes of printers. However,
what looks great on paper is actually the creation of an environmental
hazard.

"Using a laser printer is the most ecologically responsible thing you can
do for your planet--if your planet is a superheated ball of methane and
ammonia named Jupiter," says Charles Pappas, president of New York-based
ErgoCommunications, an ergonomics and eco-office consulting firm. "Here on
earth, the laser printer is one more blight in the sick workplace and the
toxic home."

Pappas notes that laser printers spew ozone, an oxygen molecule with three
atoms instead of the usual two. Ozone is created when a piece of the
printer called the corona wire receives an electric current, which
dismantles the oxygen molecule. As a result, these single oxygen atoms
link up with regular two-atom oxygen atoms to form the ozone molecule.

The Environmental Protection Agency warns against exposure to any more than
0.1 parts per million of ozone over any long span of time. For brief
periods, a higher level is tolerable but at worst it shouldn't go past 0.3
ppm. Don't automatically panic if you do smell it--ozone can be detected
in concentrations as small as 0.008 ppm.

"Usually you can smell ozone: it's tart and acrid, and chances are you've
caught a whiff of it after a lightning storm or when you were lounging
near high tension wires," says Pappas.

The worst environmental offenders are older laser printers, continues
Pappas. "Most have a filter that should be replaced every 12-18 months or
after 50,000 copies, sooner if your workplace seems especially dusty or if
the ventilation seems about average for a modern office building."

The toner cartridge in a laser printer is also a potential environmental
problem. In 1989 an estimated 12 million toner cartridges were used; 93%
of them were tossed that same year when they were empty. That year the
cartridges ended up in a landfill, 16,740 tons' worth. Experts predict
that by 1995 up to 28 million cartridges will be used up per year.

However, offices can reverse this ecological horror story. "Only about one
in five companies recycles its cartridges, which is a shame and a waste
because not only do recycled cartridges make good environmental sense,
they make even better financial and business sense," explains Pappas.
"Recycled cartridges are cheaper and better. Cheaper, because the typical
recycled cartridge costs about $60, as opposed to $75 and up for a new
one. Better, because while a new toner cartridge takes about 200 pages
(about 1/70 of its entire life) to produce an acceptably smooth image, it
takes a recycled cartridge a mere 50--that's 80% less, meaning a savings
of paper, time and money. A remanufactured cartridge can be used up to
about 12 times."

For more information on making your laser printer more environmentally
friendly, contact Charles Pappas at ErgoCommunications, 516 East 79th
Street, Suite 4F, New York, NY 10021; telephone 212-535-0344

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