We are a small niche mailer for our data clients who mails about 500k pieces/yr. We perform this from a home based office, and store mailers from 10 clients all coming from different printers in a dedicated space in the house. The workspace, storage and living are all in the same air conditioning space with no special air exchange systems in place. Given that, we live in S FL with high humidity and heat so we do not get to air out the indoor space often, literally a few times a year. Some mailers have a distinct off gassing smell more than others upon delivery and we will usually let those sit on the covered patio for a while to air out the best they can in their cases before bringing them inside. Since they are enclosed tightly in boxes the ability to air out is limited. Given all of that, my wife is at the house at almost all times operating the business and living there, probably >90% of her living hours. She is operating the tabbing and addressing equipment for at least 4 hours a day and exposed to the resulting production dust in addition to any unknown gases. We have been operating this business for almost 10y and for about 8y she has been ill. She has had every test imaginable and outside of identifying a suppressed immune system nothing can be identified. She has near persistent upper respiratory infections, mostly sinuses. She has been wearing a paper dust mask while operating the machines for the past few months, but this has not improved the symptoms.
I am trying to eliminate variables in potential causes to her symptoms and removing the inventory from the house would require a costly build of a detached storage unit on our property. Before I jump to the commitment of resources blindly I was hoping that the community here could offer some insight into what, if any, known concerns with printed materials are possible that I can attempt to identify. Questions of materials in media or ink or coatings that I may be particularly interested in identifying with the printers? Any and all constructive responses are greatly appreciated!
I am trying to eliminate variables in potential causes to her symptoms and removing the inventory from the house would require a costly build of a detached storage unit on our property. Before I jump to the commitment of resources blindly I was hoping that the community here could offer some insight into what, if any, known concerns with printed materials are possible that I can attempt to identify. Questions of materials in media or ink or coatings that I may be particularly interested in identifying with the printers? Any and all constructive responses are greatly appreciated!
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