toner and asthma

[Guest guest]

This week on the news there was a mention about laser printers

adversely affecting people's health - I dismissed it until I noticed

it on news of the day and I clicked on - cases of asthma and

chronic lung disease are being attributed to particles of toner.

THAT COULD BE WHY I HAVE BEEN SO SICK THE PAST TWO YEARS? Three and a

half years ago I started printing our community calendar in my home -

at first I had the printer in the attic but at some point in 2005 I

brought it down stairs and put it in the livingroom (we have a small

bungalow style house). We're not talking about a few copies here and

there, I was printing 4,000 - 6,000 impressions a month PLUS hand-outs

for local political campaigns in 2005 and 2006.

I was buying big canisters of toner that could do 7,000 impressions

compared to 2,500. Last year I stopped printing in house - my printer

was wearing out and service calls of $160 were coming out of my own

pocket. AT that point I started printing at the UPS store and they'd

give me a price break for free ad.

so why haven't I gotten any better in the past year? I'm still

printing stuff to hand out at town board meetings (I'm a councilman),

and I have four years of paperwork in my house from being a councilperson.

I was a computerized typesetter in the early 1980's that had to give

it up because of an allergy to photographic fixer. I had to totally

remove myself from any kind of graphic arts environment where there

were printers inks, chemicals, even magic markers. Twenty years and

technology later we're computerized and I'm thinking everything is so

nice and clean now with computers and toner.

If this is ONE of the culprits (and we're dealing with several other

things that could be exasterbating my asthma including coughing and

throat problems from my high blood pressure medicine and severe gerd)

it could affect my ability to do some jobs and strictly limit

environments I could work in. Handling paperwork is key in any

political position, and it could derail other plans I have to work in

public service. I am totally blown away at how many doors this will

close for me.

Everyone blames my hedgehog but they've been here less than a year and

the resurface of chronic asthma and inability to get off steroids

started a couple of years before I bought myself a pet. The time line

does not fit. Anyone else have any concerns about laser jet toner?