Feeling tired at the office? Blame it on the copy paper

Press, 11 January 1983, Page 17

Feeling tired at the office? Blame it on the copy paper

By

OLIVER GILLIE

“Sunday Times;' London

Modern carbonless copying paper, used increasingly in present-day offices, has nowbeen identified as a cause of mysterious symptoms which reach a peak at busy working periods. This “office sickness" takes the form of rashes, irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, headaches, and drowsiness. Alcohol consumed at office parties may well be the cause of headaches and drowsiness, but it does not account for the other symptoms — nor for the far from imaginary sickness that may set in on Mondays after a quiet week-end. The symptoms stem from dust and chemical vapours given off by carbonless copying paper, which is coated with chemicals and with tiny micro-capsules containing more chemicals. When typewriter keys hit the paper, micro-capsules are crushed at that spot and release their chemicals, which react with those in the coating to form permanent dyes. Someone handling a few sheets of the paper each day would probably notice nothing. But people working in a confined office, where automatic machines are using a great deal of the paper, often have dry eyes and throat and experience abnormal tiredness. In some modern offices, the condition is

aggravated by overheating and lack of ventilation, causing what Scandinavian doctors call the “indoor climate syndrome" — or. more specifically, “paper sickness.”

Some of the first cases of paper sickness were identified by Professor Charles Calnan of the Royal Free Hospital, London. He investigated the case of a businessman who suffered from the condition after spending a day in a small office — 7ft by 9ft — leafing through records kept on carbonless paper. The businessman developed a burning sensation on his face, .throat, and tongue. The next day, a Saturday, he woke up with aches in his legs.

By Sunday he felt much better, but on the Monday he experienced the same symptoms after only a morning in the office — having, again, handled carbonless paper records. Calnan also describes the case of four women who had symptoms similar to those of a common cold — runny eyes and nose — while handling the paper. Their symptoms were always worst in the last week of each month, when the office was busiest. “In the course of their work.” he says, “they would frequently put a hand be-

tween sheaves of carbonless paper to extract a particular one, and they all noticed that this caused a tingling sensation of the skin.” The most dramatic epidemics of “indoor climate syndrome" have been identified in Scandinavian countries — although much of the carbonless paper used there comes from Britain. Wiggins Teape, of Basing

stoke, largest European producers of the paper, attributed the trouble at the Danish telephone company to a special desensitising ink, which has not been used since the problem was identified. Carbonless copying paper has been in existence for 25 years, but so much is now in circulation that it will take years to use up existing office stocks.