A pilot study on particle emission from printer paper shredders.

This project investigated airborne particle releases derived from paper shredding. The characteristics of these emissions have not been studied previously. The objective of this project was to characterize released particles in terms of particle size distribution, particle mass and number concentration, particle morphology and chemical composition, as well as the structure of paper fibers. A significant amount of paper particles were found in the close vicinity of an unenclosed paper shredder during shredding and the manual manipulation of shredded paper. The particle release from shredding using two types of printer paper, two types of shredders, and various shredding frequencies was measured inside the shredder basket. The particles released from paper shredding were found to be in the nanometer to micrometer size ranges, and the particles contained calcium and other metal elements. Manual stirring of shredded paper released the highest particle concentration as measured at the opening of the container. Shredding with 30-s intervals increased the duration of airborne particle release as compared to intermittent shredding. Multiple quantitative analyses were employed to evaluate released particles at various particle size ranges. Two real-time instruments which measured thoracic (<10 μm) and respirable (<4 μm) particle sizes showed comparable concentrations measured inside and outside of the shredder basket. Copyright © 2017 American Association for Aerosol Research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]