Abstract
Abstract Dry-process photocopy was reported to emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), O3 and particulates. Raw materials used in dry-process photocopy include toners and plain papers, and would emit VOCs when being heated to fuser temperature (180~200 ℃). We mimic fusing process in dry-process photocopy by TD-GC/MS and set up on-line method to analyze VOCs emitted from heated toner and plain paper. Compared to off-line method which may lose VOCs during the analysis, on-line method is advantageous to capture and introduce all released VOCs into TD-GC/MS for subsequence. We found more VOCs emitted from toners than plain paper. One toner cartridge was estimated to emit 1~8 mg VOCs; whereas one package of plain papers (500 sheets) will emit 3~10 ng VOCs emitted from. This method was also applied to analyze newspapers. One copy of newspaper (ex. 10 sheets) was estimated to emit 14 □ug VOCs. Indoor air quality (IAQ) has effect on people ease and working efficiency. We use the analytical method based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) TO-17 using Tenax GR as absorbent to sample indoor air in photocopy shops. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed using TD-GC/MS. The method detection limits (MDL) and average recoveries for the target analytes were in the range 0.17~0.39 ppbv and 96~113 %, respectively. The method shows good linearity (R2 ≧0.995) and precision (＜10 %). About 80% VOCs were emitted from toners in the indoor air photocopy shop. We also quantified nine of VOCs including BETEX etc. Total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) in two photocopy shops were 0.09 and 0.08 mg/m3, individually. The highest concentration was toluene 9.05 ppbv. Isovaleric acid used as cleaning reagent was measured in one photocopy shop at a concentration of 16.47 ppbv.