TY - JOUR A1 - Karrasch, Stefan A1 - Simon, M. A1 - Herbig, Britta A1 - Langner, Jeanette A1 - Seeger, Stefan A1 - Kronseder, A. A1 - Peters, S. A1 - Dietrich-Gümperlein, G. A1 - Schierl, R. A1 - Nowak, D. A1 - Jörres, R.A. ED - Nazaroff, William T1 - Health effects of laser printer emissions: a controlled exposure study N2 - Ultrafine particles emitted from laser printers are suspected to elicit adverse health effects. We performed 75-minute exposures to emissions of laser printing devices (LPDs) in a standardized, randomized, cross- over manner in 23 healthy subjects, 14 mild, stable asthmatics, and 15 persons reporting symptoms associated with LPD emissions. Low-level exposures (LLE) ranged at the particle background (3000 cm−3) and High-level exposures (HLE) at 100 000 cm−3. Examinations before and after exp sures included spirometry, body plethysmography, transfer factors for CO and NO (TLCO, TLNO), bronchial and alveolar NO, cytokines in serum and nasal secretions (IL-1β, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, GM-CSF, IFNγ, TNFα), serum ECP, and IgE. Across all participants, no statistically significant changes occurred for lung mechanics and NO. There was a decrease in volume-related TLNO that was more pronounced in HLE, but the difference to LLE was not significant. ECP and IgE increased in the same way after exposures. Nasal IL-6 showed a higher increase after LLE. There was no coherent pattern regarding the responses in the participant subgroups or single sets of variables. In conclusion, the experimental acute responses to short but very high-level LPD exposures were small and did not indicate clinically relevant effects compared to low particle number concentrations. KW - Emission KW - Exposure KW - Laser printer KW - Lung function KW - Respiratory health KW - Ultrafine particles PY - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12366 SN - 1600-0668 VL - 27 IS - 4 SP - 753 EP - 765 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd. CY - London AN - OPUS4-42593 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Herbig, B. A1 - Jörres, R. A. A1 - Schierl, R. A1 - Simon, M. A1 - Langner, Jeanette A1 - Seeger, Stefan A1 - Nowak, D. A1 - Karrasch, S. T1 - Psychological and cognitive effects of laser printer emissions: A controlled exposure study N2 - The possible impact of ultrafine particles from laser printers on human health is controversially discussed although there are persons reporting substantial symptoms in relation to these emissions. A randomized, single-blinded, cross-over experimental design with two exposure conditions (high-level and low-level exposure) was conducted with 23 healthy subjects, 14 subjects with mild asthma, and 15 persons reporting symptoms associated with laser printer emissions. To separate physiological and psychological effects, a secondary physiologically based categorization of susceptibility to particle effects was used. In line with results from physiological and biochemical assessments, we found no coherent, differential, or clinically relevant effects of different exposure conditions on subjective complaints and cognitive performance in terms of attention, short-term memory, and psychomotor performance. However, results regarding the psychological characteristics of participants and their situational perception confirm differences between the participants groups: Subjects reporting symptoms associated with laser printer emissions showed a higher psychological susceptibility for adverse reactions in line with previous results on persons with multiple chemical sensitivity or idiopathic environmental intolerance. In conclusion, acute psychological and cognitive effects of laser printer emissions were small and could be attributed only to different participant groups but not to differences in exposure conditions in terms of particle number concentrations. KW - Cognitive performance KW - Exposure KW - Idiopathic environmental intolerance KW - Laser printer emission KW - Multiple chemical sensitivity KW - Subjective complaints PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12429 SN - 1600-0668 SN - 0905-6947 VL - 28 IS - 1 SP - 112 EP - 124 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CY - 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA AN - OPUS4-43945 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -