United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-95/045
June 1995
EPA Project Summary
Office Equipment: Design, Indoor
Air Emissions, and Pollution
Prevention Opportunities
Robert Hetes, Mary Moore, and Coleen Northeim
The full report summarizes available
information on office equipment design;
indoor air emissions of organics, ozone,
and participates from office equipment;
and pollution prevention approaches for
reducing these emissions. Since much
of the existing emissions data from of-
fice equipment are proprietary and not
available in the general literature, they
are not included in the report. The re-
port covers (1) dry and wet process
photoimaging machines (copiers, print-
ers, and faxes); (2) spirit duplicators;
(3) mimeograph machines; (4) digital
duplicators; (5) diazo (blueprint) ma-
chines; (6) computers and computer
terminals; (7) impact matrix printers;
and (8) other equipment types.
Office equipment emits indoor air pol-
lutants as a result of equipment opera-
tion, offgassing from components, or
episodic releases related to catastrophic
failure of a unit. For equipment that
does not use supplies (e.g., video dis-
play terminals) emissions are primarily
from offgassing of residual organics.
Increased levels of ozone, total volatile
organic compounds, and particulates
have been observed in the presence of
operating equipment and have been
associated with complaints by exposed
workers. Published emission rates, IAQ
impacts, and potential pollution pre-
vention solutions associated with the
equipment types are discussed in the
full report.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
ings of the research project that is fully
documented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
Background
Several recent studies by the U.S. En-
vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) have
identified indoor air quality (IAQ) as one
of the most important environmental risks
to the Nation's health. People spend ap-
proximately 90% of their time in indoor
environments such as residences, public
buildings, and offices, where concentra-
tions of many pollutants are frequently
higher than in outdoor urban air. Some
activities can lead to indoor air pollutant
levels up to 1,000 times higher than out-
door levels.
Approaches for improving IAQ to date
have generally focused on mitigation tech-
niques such as ventilation and air clean-
ing. These traditional mitigation approaches
do not prevent pollutionthe pollution is
simply transferred to another medium or
outdoors. Depending on the source of in-
door air pollution, another approach is to
focus on source reduction, ensuring that
pollutants do not enter the indoor environ-
ment in the first place. In the Pollution
Prevention Act of 1990, Congress declared
that pollution should be prevented or re-
duced at the source whenever feasible.
Source reduction may be accomplished
by modifications to equipment, processes,
and procedures; reformulations or rede-
sign of products; substitution of raw mate-
rials; and improvements in use procedures.
In multimedia pollution prevention, all en-
vironmental media are considered, and
transfer of risks or pollution from one me-
dium to another is avoided.
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EPA's Air and Energy Engineering Re-
search Laboratory (AEERL) is responsible
for EPA's indoor air engineering research.
AEERL's Indoor Air Branch (IAB) is inte-
grating IAQ and pollution prevention into
a strategic approach to indoor air source
management. lAB's pollution prevention/
IAQ research objective is to employ ac-
cepted pollution prevention techniques to
reduce indoor air pollution through the de-
velopment of low-emitting materials (LEMs)
and/or low-impact materials (LIMs). LEMs
are used in the same manner in the same
indoor environment as another material
but emit less pollution. LIMs are designed
to be more amenable to control (e.g., ven-
tilation) than a similar material used in the
same manner in the same indoor environ-
ment.
EPA Research on Office
Equipment
In October 1993, Research Triangle In-
stitute (RTI), Underwriters Laboratories
(UL), and AEERL's IAB initiated a coop-
erative agreement to research pollution
prevention approaches for reducing indoor
air emissions from office equipment. The
objectives are to characterize indoor air
emissions from selected types of office
equipment, then to identify and evaluate
pollution prevention approaches (i.e., the
development of LEMs/LIMs). The research
approach includes literature reviews of
emissions from office equipment; devel-
opment of a standard test method; emis-
sion testing and modeling of selected
equipment; and cooperative interaction
with industry to identify, evaluate, and
implement research, development, and
demonstration activities to reduce the in-
door air impact from office equipment.
Technical advisors have been organized
by IAB and RTI to provide expertise for
the project. The advisors include trade
association representatives, industry rep-
resentatives, and academia.
The objective of the report is to summa-
rize available information on office equip-
ment design; indoor air emissions of or-
ganics, ozone, and particulates from of-
fice equipment; and pollution prevention
approaches for reducing these emissions.
Note that much of the existing emissions
data from office equipment are proprietary
and not available in the general literature
and are therefore not included in the re-
port. The full report covers the following
types of equipment:
Dry and wet process photoimaging
machines (copiers, printers, and
faxes)
Spirit duplicators
Mimeograph machines
Digital duplicators
Diazo (blueprint) machines
Computers and computer terminals
Impact matrix printers
Other equipment types
The full report emphasizes photoimaging
machines because of their prevalence,
their projected growth in sales, and poten-
tial opportunities for pollution prevention.
Equipment such as very large, high-vol-
ume duplicating machines and offset print-
ing presses that are commonly used at
quick-print shops are not included in the
report. Office products such as adhesives,
correction fluids, pens/markers, and car-
bonless copy paper may contain chemi-
cals that impact IAQ. However, office prod-
ucts are not being researched under this
project. In addition, the evaluation of elec-
tromagnetic fields that may result from the
operation of some types of office equip-
ment is outside the scope of this research.
Literature Summary
The office environment contains many
types of equipment that emit indoor air
pollutants. Emissions may occur as a re-
sult of equipment operation, offgassing
from components, or episodic releases re-
lated to catastrophic failure of a unit. For
equipment that does not use supplies (e.g.,
video display terminals) emissions are pri-
marily from offgassing of residual organ-
ics. The source of these organics can be
either the construction materials (e.g., plas-
tics casings) or components (e.g., cards
used in manufacturing integrated circuit
boards). Emissions resulting from
offgassing decrease with time until they
reach a point where they are negligible. It
has been reported that over 300 hours of
"on time" is required before video display
terminal emissions reach a negligible level.
Emissions from equipment that uses
supplies such as toner, ink, and paper
(e.g., photocopiers, printers, diazo ma-
chines) result from both offgassing and
operation. Emissions from offgassing will
decrease with time; however, emissions
from operation will either remain fairly con-
stant or may even increase between rou-
tine maintenance and as the equipment
ages. For example, ozone emissions from
five tested photocopiers ranged from 16
to 131 |ig/copy before routine maintenance
and were reduced to less than 1 to 4 |ig/
copy after maintenance.
in general, published data on emissions
from office equipment are limited. How-
ever, increased levels of ozone, total vola-
tile organic compounds (TVOCs), and par-
ticulates have been observed in the pres-
ence of operating equipment. Increased
levels of ozone, formaldehyde, TVOCs,
and particulates have been observed in a
chamber evaluation of operating office
equipment (three personal computers, one
photocopier, and one laser printer). Thirty
human subjects participating in the ex-
periment had a significantly increased per-
ception of headache, mucous membrane
irritation, and dryness in the eyes, nose,
and throat as well as reported dry and
tight facial skin when exposed to the op-
erating equipment in the chamber. Other
researchers have also reported that emis-
sions associated with normal operation of
office equipment can contribute to in-
creased indoor air pollutant concentrations
and have been associated with complaints
from exposed workers.
When evaluating the impact of a piece
of office equipment on IAQ it is important
to consider
emission rates and duration,
toxicity or irritation potential of sub-
stances emitted,
physical relationships of the source,
the occupants, and the space they
occupy (the proximity of the source to
people breathing its emissions can
greatly affect the amount of disper-
sion and dilution of emissions and,
therefore, the concentration actually
breathed), and
sensitivity of the occupants.
Table 1 summarizes published emis-
sion rates, IAQ impacts, and potential pol-
lution prevention solutions associated with
the equipment types discussed in the re-
port. The equipment is listed in priority
order (highest priority on top) for evalua-
tion as part of the EPA and RTI pollution
prevention research. The criteria used to
prioritize the equipment types that are in-
tended to maximize pollution prevention
rewards include relatively high emissions
(either as a unit or in total emissions),
minimal design differences among manu-
facturers, easily understood processes,
and the feasibility (both technical and eco-
nomic) for pollution prevention measures
and projected market share. For example,
certain types of equipment with limited
applications can have high emission rates
but may affect IAQ in only a limited area
or in a few locations (e.g., diazo machines).
Others may have significantly lower emis-
sion rates on a per unit basis but may be
found throughout a building and therefore
have a significant overall impact on IAQ
(e.g., printers).
Dry-process photocopiers have been
identified as a high priority for pollution
prevention research. They are prevalent
in most office environments and are a
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Table 1. Summary of Office Equipment Emission Information (Based on 1994 Literature Survey)
Type of
Equipment
Emissions
lAQ/Emission Rate
Potential Pollution
Prevention Solutions
General Comments on
Pollution Prevention
Research Selection Criteria
Dry-process
photocopying
machines
Laser printers
Computer
terminals
Wet-process
photocopying
machines
Ink/bubble jet
printers
Spirit
duplicators
Hydrocarbons,
respirable suspended
particulates (toner
powder), and ozone
Hydrocarbons,
respirable
particulates and
Ozone and
offgassing VOCs
Aliphatic
hydrocarbons and
Hydrocarbons,
ozone
Methanol
O3: Average 40 pg/copy; peak
production 131 ng/copy; 0-1350
ng/min, ave =259 ng/min;
48-158 pg/copy; <4-54 pg/copy
Participate: 0.007 /ig/m3 room
concentration of black carbon.
90-460 pg/rrf in exhaust air
TVOC: 0.5-16.4 ^g/sheet from
paper
O3: 100-4000 ng/m3 room
concentration; average 438
in; 1QQ pg/min (w/ 'filter)
Participate: 60 pg/m'm
TVOC: 2.0-6.5 /ig/sheet from
paper
Limited published data, TVOC:
Maximum of 1 75 ng/hour from
VDT drops quickly within 300
hours of on time
TVOC: 25 g/h, 0.241 g/copy
observed high room
concentration of 64 mg/m3
4,150 mg/m3 in exhaust air
No published emission rate or
IAQ data
Breathing zone concentrations
of 40-635 ppm; 195-3,000 ppm
with no ventilation, 80-1,300
ppm with ventilation, and 9-135
ppm with enclosure and
ventilation
Lower voltage to reduce
ozone (charged rollers), toner
reformulation, improved
transfer efficiency, low
maintenance machines, lower
fuser temperature, changes in
toner particle size, low-
emitting components
Same as for dry-process
photocopying machines
Low-emitting materials and/or
lower voltage, alternative
materials for cards used in
integrated circuit boards
Solvent reformulation;
pressure fusing; decrease
voltage, low-emitting
components
Solvent reformulation, low-
emitting components
Mineral spirits or replacement
with photocopiers (may or
may not be pollution
prevention)
Common product found in most
office settings. Smaller units
lower emission rates but more
common, large production units
often with dedicated HVAC
systems, over 1.5 million
units sold annually
Common technology found in
most office settings
Thought to have relatively low
emissions when compared to
other sources that use supplies.
Over 10 million units sold
annually
Small market share
Used primarily for personal
printers, home use
Limited market, schools and
institutions
Mimeograph
machines
Fax
machines
Digital
duplicators
Blueprint
machines
(dyeline)
Hydrotreated heavy
and light naphthenic
distillates
Ozone and VOCs
VOCs-petroleum
solvent and ethylene
glycol
Ammonia, carbon
monoxide, methanol,
ethanol,
trinitrofluorene,
trichloroethane
Heavy naphthenic distillate: 30
mg/page
10 mg/page light naphthenic
distillate
No published emissions rate or
IAQ data
Combined VOCs: 20 mg/page
1-40 ppm ammonia in breathing
zone of operator, average = 8.2
ppm
Ink reformulation, replacement
with photocopiers or other
technologies (may or may not
be pollution prevention)
Same as for dry-process
photocopying machines
Lower VOC inks, replacement
with photocopiers (may or
may not be pollution
prevention)
CAD/alternative technologies,
improved maintenance
Limited market, schools and
institutions
Found in most office settings,
rapidly changing technology
may be integrated with copier/
printers
Limited market share
Older technology, losing market
share to CAD/alternative
technologies
(continued)
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Table 1. Continued
Type of
Equipment
Emissions
lAQ/Emission Rate
Potential Pollution
Prevention Solutions
General Comments on
Pollution Prevention
Research Selection Criteria
Impact
printers
Plotters
VOCs
VOCs
TVOC: 0.7-1.0 ng/sheet from
paper
No data on emissions from
operation
No published emission rate or
IAQ data
Low-emitting components
reformulated inks
Low-emitting components,
reformulated inks
Used generally for personal
printers, home use. Relatively
low emission rates.
Limited market share, sales
around 250,000 a year
worldwide
known source of ozone, participate, and
VOC emissions. The size of photocopiers
can range from small personal models to
fairly large machines that can have rela-
tively high emission rates.
Laser printers, which use a technology
similar to that of dry-process photocopiers
and have been shown to have similar
emissions, were identified as a secondary
priority for pollution prevention research,
given that they are much smaller in terms
of throughput and concomitant unit emis-
sion rates than photocopiers and that
NIOSH is conducting emissions tests on
laser printers. NIOSH's testing program is
intended to define emission rates for laser
printers and will be used for estimating
adequate ventilation needs. However, the
results from the NIOSH study are expected
to be shared with EPA and RTI and can
be used to support this pollution preven-
tion research.
Indoor air emissions from computers and
impact printers are limited to offgassing
from basic construction materials and elec-
tronic components. These emissions are
highest for new machines and diminish
with time. Therefore, although they may
impact localized IAQ and are found in
most office settings, their total combined
impact on IAQ is likely to be less than for
dry-process photocopiers.
Wet-process photocopiers have been
shown to be a major contributor to indoor
air VOC levels in several studies and have
significantly greater emissions than dry-
process machines on a per unit basis.
However, wet-process machines consti-
tute a small part of the photocopier mar-
ket. Therefore, although wet-process ma-
chines have higher per unit emission rates,
dry-process photocopiers may result in
greater overall emissions based on the
greater number of units in operation.
Other equipment that has been shown
to have high individual emission rates in-
cludes spirit duplicators, mimeograph ma-
chines, plotters, and diazo (blueprint) ma-
chines. However, this equipment is rather
specialized, with limited numbers of units
in operation. Furthermore, some of this
equipment is no longer manufactured or
is decreasing in use.
A final report covering the research con-
ducted under this cooperative agreement
between EPA, RTI, and UL will be issued
upon completion of the research in 1996.
Additional information on indoor air emis-
sions from office equipment is available
from the sources listed in Appendix A of
the full report.
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Robert Hetes, Mary Moore (now with Cadmus, Inc.), and Coleen Northeim are with
Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Kelly W. Leovic is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Office Equipment: Design, Indoor Air Emissions, and
Pollution Prevention Opportunities," (Order No. PB95-191375; Cost: $19.50,
subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-95/045
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