Is Toner in Toner Cartridge Harmful to Human Body?

Nowadays, laser printers, electrostatic copiers and other devices are essential in the office. For these devices, toner cartridge is an indispensable consumable. These devices release a small amount of toner during operation, and the toner will float in the air. So will these toner cause damage to human health? 

What are the Ingredients in the Toner?

In addition to carbon black, iron oxide and polyester, the toner on the market also contains many metal dust, such as nickel, cobalt, mercury, etc. Most of these metal dusts contain heavy metals, which are harmful to human body. In addition, toner also contains some carcinogens, such as benzene, aldehyde, styrene and so on. And color toner contains more carcinogens, such as tributyltin. Tributyltin can affect the secretion of human hormones, and even lead to a decline in the number of sperm in men and infertility in women.

How Does Toner Enter the Human Body?

The toner particles are light in weight and small in volume, so they can easily float in the air. If people work near intelligent laser printers or office copiers for a long time, it is easy to inhale toner particles. The toner particles enter the body through the respiratory tract. More importantly, the toner particles can not be decomposed in the human body, and the human body is difficult to discharge the toner particles. Some toner particles even enter the lungs and damage lung tissue, which is more harmful than smoking. If people inhale too much toner at one time, it will lead to respiratory diseases, dizziness, insomnia, headache and other symptoms. In addition, toner can also cause cancers such as lung cancer.

Can Users Replenish Toner Cartridges by Themselves?

In order to save the cost, many users will buy toner and fill it into the toner cartridge for copier. In fact, this causes more toner to be released into the air. These toner particles are invisible to the naked eye, and the surface modifier (polypropylene Paraffin) will be absorbed by the human body and enter the blood circulation system. These toner particles eventually enter the kidney and are difficult to be excreted, leading to kidney stones and other diseases. Therefore, it is not recommended that users replenish the toner cartridge by themselves.

Will Printers and Copiers Pollute the Environment?

Due to the high voltage electrostatic field inside the serial printer and photo copier, organic emissions such as dimethylnitrosamine and benzopyrene will be produced when the devices are running. These organic emissions can make users sick and even cause cancer. In addition, these office devices will produce ozone when they are running. Although ozone can reduce the harm of ultraviolet to human body and kill bacteria, excessive ozone will pollute the environment and damage human health. Therefore, when using the portable printers or color intelligent copiers, it is best to open the windows in the room, and maintain good indoor ventilation, so as to minimize the harm of office equipment to human body. In addition, for the sake of health, users are advised not to stay around the printer or copier for a long time.