TY - JOUR
AU - MD, Yalcin Kulahci,
AB - To the Editor: A toner cartridge is the consumable component of a printer. Toner cartridges contain toner powder, a fine, dry mixture of plastic particles, carbon, and black or other coloring agents that make the actual image on the paper. In its early form, it was simply carbon powder. Later, to improve the quality of the printout, the carbon was melt-mixed with a polymer. The specific polymer used varies by manufacturer, but it can be a styrene acrylate copolymer, a polyester resin, a styrene butadiene copolymer, or a few other special polymers. Toner formulations vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and even from machine to machine.1 A 22-year-old man who is a soldier came to us. While trying to destroy some old toner powder from the 1960s, he accidentally poured some on to the drape of his boot. Some time later while studying, he experienced sweating and thereafter a burning feeling in his foot. There were two full-thickness necrotic areas on his right foot, one 1.5 × 2 cm and the other 1 × 1 cm in diameter (Figure 1). We thought that toner particles combined with the patient's sweat caused a chemical reaction which resulted in skin burns. Figure 1. View largeDownload slide The necrotic areas on the foot. Figure 1. View largeDownload slide The necrotic areas on the foot. Cutaneous chemical burns represent a small but significant proportion of burns, with reported incidences of up to 10.7%. Such burns are commonly small in size, and the most common burn areas are the face and limbs.2,3 Chemical burns occurring in an industrial setting have decreased, although the number of domestic chemical burns has increased by more than three times.3 Theegarten et al4 have shown that workers with toner dust exposure from laser printers can develop submesothelial deposition of toner particles. Muñoz et al5 reported vocal cord dysfunction because of exposure to wood dust and xerographic toner. To the best of our knowledge, this type of burn injury has not yet been reported. Prevention of such injuries is most important, and to prevent and minimize toner powder injuries, people must be made aware of this danger. To draw attention to a possible injury, warnings indicating injury mechanism should be printed on the printer cartridge package. We hope this article will be beneficial in protecting people from unexpected injuries. REFERENCES 1. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toner. Internet; accessed May 10, 2012. 2. Xie Y, Tan Y, Tang S. Epidemiology of 377 patients with chemical burns in Guangdong province. Burns. 2004;30:569–72. 3. Joseph H, Hunter T, Staruch R, Moiemen N. Chemical burns—An historical comparison and review of the literature Burns. 2012;38:383–7. 4. Theegarten D, Boukercha S, Philippou S, Anhenn O. Submesothelial deposition of carbon nanoparticles after toner exposition: case report. Diagn Pathol. 2010;5:77. 5. Muñoz X, Roger A, De la Rosa D, Morell F, Cruz MJ. Occupational vocal cord dysfunction due to exposure to wood dust and xerographic toner. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2007;33:153–8. Copyright © 2013 by the American Burn Association
TI - An Unusual Burn Caused By Toner Powder
JF - Journal of Burn Care & Research
DO - 10.1097/BCR.0b013e3182642a12
DA - 2013-03-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/an-unusual-burn-caused-by-toner-powder-dq9DbHkJRC
SP - e118
EP - e118
VL - 34
IS - 2
DP - DeepDyve
ER -