tesa Clean Air® at the A+A trade fair

The first appearance by tesa SE at the A+A, the world’s largest trade fair for occupational safety and health, raised dust. The manufacturer of self-adhesive system solutions presented its tesa Clean Air® particulate filter at the event, which was held from November 3 through 6 in Düsseldorf. The product introduction generated a big buzz among the industry insiders attending the fair and in the press: tesa welcomed about 600 visitors to its booth over the four-day event. “We are pleased to see the high level of interest,” says Siegfried Laborge, tesa’s Paper, Office Supply, and Stationery Sales Manager for Germany. “Only a serious examination of the topic of particulate emissions from printers will be able to improve the situation of office employees in the long run.”

Particulate measurements under cleanroom conditions
Laser printers emit large volumes of particulate matter that can find its way into the lungs and even the bloodstream. The dust particles are invisible to the naked eye. Nonetheless, tesa made the risk posed by laser printer particulate emissions visible, with a state-of-the-art measurement station. Working under cleanroom conditions, the number of fine particles emitted was measured and shown on a large-format digital display. A comparison between an unused filter and a used one also made it clear why using this product is well worthwhile. tesa Clean Air cuts particulate emissions from laser printers by up to 94 percent. This performance has also been confirmed and certified by the TÜV Nord safety inspection and validation organization. In addition, tesa was also represented at the jointly operated booth “Erfolgsfaktor Büro” (Success Factor: The Office).

Experts from medicine and occupational safety and health
To engage in intensive discussion with the trade press, tesa organized a full-day event for journalists on November 4. In addition to representatives from tesa and its cooperation partner Freudenberg, environmental medicine specialist and professor Dr. Wolfgang Huber answered questions on the health risks posed by particulates and explained the current status of the research on this topic. “There are mounting indications that particulate emissions from laser printers affect human health,” Huber says. “Particulate filters can be used preventively to help avoid this.”

Risk at the office?
Indeed, the problem is now more pressing than ever: Thanks to falling purchase prices, the number of laser printers in use has skyrocketed in recent years. Two million laser printers were sold in Germany alone in 2008. The majority of the printers are used in offices – more than 70 percent of German office employees work with laser printers. And most of them (82 percent) sit less than three meters away from the device itself. But probably very few users are aware of the potential hazard. According to one recent study, the German populace associates particulate matter predominantly with car emissions (1). But it is indeed possible that the same risk exists in offices. A number of different scientific studies indicate that laser printer particulate emissions can be harmful to human health. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has also been unable to rule out the risk, and urgently recommends further medical research into the effects of exposure (2).

tesa Clean Air® is a cooperative product marketed by tesa SE and 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.

(1) Ipsos Marketing, April 2009. Online survey of 604 German office workers ages 18 to 65.
(2) Health Assessment No. 014/2008 published by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung), dated March 31, 2008