For a clean working environment: tesa® Clean Air reduces laser printer particulate emissions by up to 94 percent

Employees in offices throughout Germany inhale large quantities of particulates emitted by laser printers daily, potentially risking their health. More than 70 percent of those who work in office settings work with laser printers, and the vast majority of them (82 percent) sit just three meters or less away from the device itself (1). With every page printed, laser printers emit tiny particles of dust, invisible to the naked eye, which eventually can find their way into the lungs and even the circulatory system. Some models of printers emit so much pollution that dust levels inside offices are equivalent to those on major traffic arteries (2). But now, employers can create a clean, healthy working environment for their employees: The tesa® Clean Air particulate emissions filter for laser printers will be launched on the market in October 2009.

Three layers of special nonwoven fabric

Once adhered to the printer’s ventilation shaft with self-adhesive hook-and-loop tape, the filter can reduce particulate emissions by up to 94 percent. It consists of a three-layer special nonwoven fabric that filters out even the tiniest particles of dust – which are the ones considered especially harmful to human health (3, 4). That’s outstanding performance, and it hasn’t gone unrewarded – the tesa® Clean Air is the first particulate filter for printers to have been tested and certified by the TÜV Nord safety inspection and validation organization. The filter provides employees with twelve months, or about 70,000 pages’ worth, of protection, and it is easily disposed of together with household trash. Thanks to the hook-and-loop system, it is a snap to apply and replace the filter over the printer’s ventilation inlet. The filter doesn’t affect print quality or the printer’s functionality or cooling features. tesa® Clean Air is available in three sizes at the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices of € 19.90, € 28.90, and € 29.90.

tesa® Clean Air is a cooperative product marketed by tesa SE and the filter producer Freudenberg Filtration Technologies. By working together, the companies have successfully pooled their different strengths: Freudenberg has extensive application and production expertise in air filtration. tesa is a well-known brand-name partner to retailers and has the appropriate sales, distribution, and logistics structures in Europe.

Measures taken for retailers

tesa is supporting retailers with an extensive communications concept in which tesa discusses the topic of laser printer particulate emissions in venues including trade fairs and customer-oriented events. Various marketing measures have been taken to ensure the product’s name recognition: an ad campaign in target group-appropriate media as well as banner advertising on the Internet, activities centering on mailings to major consumers, and brochures for end customers. Online measures round out the communications package, for instance with a detailed website that contains background information on the product and helps users select the right filter. In addition, the site offers a search function so that customers can find the authorized dealer near them.

(1) Ipsos Marketing, März 2008
(2) Quelle: Computer Bild, 22/2008
(3) Roller, Markus. Untersuchungen zur krebserzeugenden Wirkung von Nanopartikeln und anderen Stäuben. Im Auftrag der Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA), 2008
(4) Brüning, Thomas u.a.. Bewertung der gesundheitlichen Wirkung von Tonerstäuben für Menschen am Arbeitsplatz. Berufsgenossenschaftliches Forschungsinstitut für Arbeitsmedizin. 2006, S. 14 ff.