Re: laser toner

[Bernard Cleyet <anngeorg@PACBELL.NET>]

Hazard assessed:
The use of toner in photocopiers within the School of Computing Sciences
- both in terms of
chemicals inserted into the machine and chemicals generated during
operation of the machine. The
laser aspect of the copier is dealt with separately under the "laser and
intense light source"
assessment.
Who is at risk:
Photocopier users and, to a larger extent, staff who insert toner.
Likelihood of event occurring:
Highly unlikely - no harmful events in recent knowledge.
Severity of injury/harm:
Slightly harmful - toner chemicals may cause those with sensitive
skin/airways to
experience discomfort but the toners are actually not defined as toxic
and are not known to cause
irritation - i.e. there are no specialist personal protection needs
stipulated in the documentation.
Whilst one of the ingredients of the toner, Carbon Black, was revaluated
as a Group 2B1 carcinogen -
based on lab rat experiments where particle overload of the lungs with
just Carbon Black was
performed. Subsequent studies involving a toner (which used this
substance as a constituent part)
did not show any carcinogenic qualities during its two-year inhalation
test on animals. From this we
imply that, at office exposure levels, this product does not increase
the risk of developing cancer.
Ozone generated during the printing process is given as 0.0074ppm on the
220 model
without ozone filter and 0.0059ppm on the 700 units with the ozone
filter attached (the legal limit is
0.2ppm). Ozone can cause headaches, dryness of throat, eyes and nose
but, because of the nature of
ozone, concentrations dissipate within a few minutes.
Control measures put in place:
The construction of the toner bottle is such that inhalation and contact
with skin ......

Ranking of risk:
Overall risk defined as "trivial".


www.cmp.uea.ac.uk/web/information/ safety/Photocopier_assess.pdf

More:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=toner+carcinogenic&btnG=Google+Search
<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=toner+carcinogenic&btnG=Google+Search>

bc

John Denker wrote:

> Quoting Herbert H Gottlieb <herbgottlieb@JUNO.COM>:
>
>
>
> > Is there any difference in
> > the various brands that are sold for different laser
> > printers?
>
> Yes.
>
>
>
> > I believer that laser toner is essentially
> > fine grains of carbon.
>
> It's not.
>
> It's a mixture.  The ingredients are highly engineered.
> Particle size.  Electrostatic properties.  Magnetic properties.
> Melting points.  Yada yada.  For a very basic introduction, see
>  http://www.refilltoner.com/tonerExplained.html
>
> Don't play with it without taking proper precautions.  Like all
> fine powders, you don't want to get it in your lungs.  Also, it
> makes a mess.