POTENTIAL FOR REDUCING STYRENE EXPOSURES FROM COPIED PAPER THROUGH USE OF LOW-EMITTING TONERS

摘要

Tests were conducted using 53-L chambers to determine styrene emission rates from freshly copied paper produced on a single photocopier, using two toners manufactured for the copier but having different styrene contents. Copied-paper styrene emissions with both toners could be represented by a power law or a 3rd-order decay model (R~2 = 0.94 to 0.99). The two toners resulted in copied paper having significantly different styrene emissions (p<0.01). Unit mass emissions of styrene (μg/m~2) over 1,000 h are predicted to be 9 times greater from paper with the higher-emitting toner. But even copied paper produced using a still-higher-emitting toner reported in the literature, is predicted to produce peak indoor styrene concentrations in a typical office only 0.3% of the estimated minimum concentration of concern to susceptible sub-populations. Thus, for the toners studied here, indoor styrene exposures from copied paper appear too limited to provide incentive for switching to the lower-emitting toner.