Laserjet Toner: Is it Archival?

Does anyone know if laserjet toner meets the criteria of being

archival with respect to silver gelatin images? Suppose a photograph

were mounted on acid-free paper that had been labeled using a

laserjet printer. Could the toner eventually "infect" the print.

 

Intuitively, I would think not.

 

Checking the MSDS on the HP site, toner consists of Styrene Acrylate

Copolymer, and it also consists of iron oxide.

Though alot would depend on how much printing there is, I really don't think there would be a problem especially if it's kept to a minimum.

Toner isn't archival from a standpoint of it not being permanently bonded to the paper. Where it transfers to and what issues that causes isn't easy to answer. If you are dealing with black then the primary concern is carbon in dust form.

<BR><BR>Most all color toners fade due to exposure to UV light<BR><BR>Our two color copiers use Archival acid free papers; the paper is expensive. The oldest copy we have hanging on the wall is from around 1988; printed with the brand new Canon Laser Copier; which was renamed the CLC100 later. The prints exposed to 13 years of office floursecent lighting has faded to about 1/3 of original colors; but so have the ink on boxes and books too. The stored in file cabinets color copies look about 80% of true color. Prints stored horizontally in a stack many times caused the toner to transfer to the back of another piece of paper.

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2 years ago we color copied some Novajet inkjet prints; and laminated them side by side to the injet prints. We used lamination film that is not UV resistant; and placed the strip outside facing up in direct sunlight. After 2 years; both are all faded out; but the toner based color copies are in much better shape than the inkjet prints. Color fading with the toner and injet occurs at different rates; the reds go first. The indoor type injet prints had noticeable fading in one week; which took several weeks to detect with the toner based color copies. After many months; the samples appear to not fade as much; this is because the red dissapeared; and the other pigments and toners have a longer 1/2 life.

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At home; we have many 11x17 mounted color copies that appear to have little fading; even after 5 years. These prints are away from flourscent lights; and windows; which emit the killer UV light.<BR><BR>

 

Black toner used in black and white copiers is very fade resistant. We made a banner that is 2x16 feet; and laminated it and placed it on a wall of our building. After 1 1/2 years; the lamination started to fall apart; but the black letters on the banner were still jet black. I thought the banner would only last 2 months; and was told it would fall apart in 1 week by my coworkers.

Toner for Xerox colour copiers that is displayed in normal lighting (no UV, no sunlight) should show minimal fading after four years. After fifteen years it will fade about 30%. The toner should stay bonded to the paper for the life of the paper.

I don't know if this is archival but you should have a print that you can enjoy for many years.