Toner Safety

[UberSkippy]

Ok, so this will probably count as lame but damn it nobody seems to know this shit and it could fucking kill you if you don't.

Toner, that powder shit in laser printers, is extremely dangerous stuff. For starters much of it is carcinogenic. (It causes cancer.) If you breath it this shit can cause serious lung problems. Like lung disease.

If you spill some on you, wash with COLD water. The shit is heat sensitive so use cold water. If you spill it on the floor don’t use a vacuum to clean it up. First off the powder is so fine it’ll blow right through a HEPA filter. Second off your ordinary vacuum doesn’t have a dust explosion proof motor. Basically, if you vacuum high concentrations of very fine particles like toner there’s a good chance it’ll cause your vacuum to explode.

Why am I posting this? Because I had a fucking laserjet explode on me today and the first thing some retard in the office did was go get the vacuum. I’m looking at him covered with pink fucking toner and I wanted to rip his head off.

All I could say was “It’s not flower you idiot. Get that fucking vacuum away from me and go get the God Damn MSDS for this shit, THEN go get the god damn water vac and clean it up right.”

Sure it was 50 degrees outside but that's STILL way to cold to stand outside while one of your sadistic coworkers hoses you down with a garden hose.

Fuck

 

[Diesel]

Laser toner is nothing but ionized plastic particles. Toner has 2 main ingredients... plastic and pigment. There's nothing inherently carcinogenic about laser toner, other than the fact that inhaling plastic probably isn't a good idea, and plastic possibly contains some carcinogens.

The laser writes an electrostatic image on the drum, the drum collects the toner, passes it onto the paper, and a pass by the fuser melts the plastic onto the paper to form the print.

Seriously, what makes you think vacuuming up toner will cause your vacuum to explode? Most maintenance and care guides, including HP, recommend that you vacuum excess toner out of your laser printer when you perform cleaning and maintenance.

 

[Jung]

Ok, so this will probably count as lame but damn it nobody seems to know this shit and it could fucking kill you if you don't.

Toner, that powder shit in laser printers, is extremely dangerous stuff. For starters much of it is carcinogenic. (It causes cancer.) If you breath it this shit can cause serious lung problems. Like lung disease.

If you spill some on you, wash with COLD water. The shit is heat sensitive so use cold water. If you spill it on the floor don’t use a vacuum to clean it up. First off the powder is so fine it’ll blow right through a HEPA filter. Second off your ordinary vacuum doesn’t have a dust explosion proof motor. Basically, if you vacuum high concentrations of very fine particles like toner there’s a good chance it’ll cause your vacuum to explode.

Care to elaborate?

Toner, that powder shit in laser printers, is extremely dangerous stuff.

I'd like to hear your explanation of why, and your source. I agree with Diesel; toner isn't really that toxic, and the manufacturer recommended method of clean up is using a vacuum.

Why am I posting this?

Honestly, I have no clue.

 

[Diesel]

Care to elaborate?

I'll field that one... it's BS.
Laser toner is heat sensitive in that it's plastic that melts when subjected to a fuser.
Washing with warm or hot water ain't gonna do it.

 

[UberSkippy]

Ok, I'll elaborate.

Toner actually is more than just plastic and pigments. It can be made of all sorts of crap including Styrofoam, titanium-dioxide, carbon black , silica and the like. Carbon Black can is carcinogenic in unbound form although in most newer toners Carbon Black is bound so this isn’t a problem. Older toners are a different story and when it spills there’s no indicators so you have to assume it is for your own safety.

Toner, or any fine particulate matter, can cause a normal vacuum cleaner to explode. When very fine particulates are aerosolized a small electric charge can cause them to explode. I don’t know the particular physics off it but I’ve seen it done with a coffee can, a 9 volt batter and a cup of flower. In a normal vacuum cleaner there tends to be a TON of static electricity which can cause a vacuum to detonate. Even at HP they have special vacuums for toner spills to prevent this. It’s along the same thing as grain silos when they explode, just MUCH smaller.

As far as the lung damage goes, high concentrations of fine particles in the air can cause serous lung problems. Mainly because the particles get through all the body’s filter systems and adhere to the inside of the lungs. That’s bad ju-ju.

At any rate, here’s a copy of one HP MSDS sheet.
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/productdata/pdf/lj_q5920c_eng_v1.pdf

A little toner is no big deal. But when you bust open a 30,000 page cartridge… that’s a lot of damn toner.

 

[Darklight]

um doesnt toner come in a sealed cartridge?

 

[UberSkippy]

um doesnt toner come in a sealed cartridge?

Not on all printers no. There are basically two types of cartridges:

1. Sealed cartridges with the toner resevoir and the imaging kit built dirrectly on to them. HP cartridges for example.

2. Replenishment cartrdiges have a resevoir for toner and a seperate imaging kits. You'll find thise on Kyocera, Ricoh and quite a few other brands. The Kyocera kits LOOK like a single unit but aren't and can come appart fairly easily.

 

[Darklight]

Not on all printers no. There are basically two types of cartridges:

1. Sealed cartridges with the toner resevoir and the imaging kit built dirrectly on to them. HP cartridges for example.

2. Replenishment cartrdiges have a resevoir for toner and a seperate imaging kits. You'll find thise on Kyocera, Ricoh and quite a few other brands. The Kyocera kits LOOK like a single unit but aren't and can come appart fairly easily.

wow that seems unholy retarted. I mean I can understand the cost issue if its cheaper to have a refillable resevoir but shit if its spose to be toxic and shit, wouldnt wanna be screwing with it. but then again I got me a nice ol hp inkjet style photo printer.. totally sealed ink cartridges.

 

[Diesel]

Just as a note... my Richo AP2100 has a sealed toner cartridge.

 

[UberSkippy]

As far as I know, ALL HP lasers use the sealed cartridges. Other companies mix and match so some are resevoirs, others are sealed. Then there are sealed resevoirs which look like a single unit but aren't.