Least Toxic Computer Ink

March 24, 2014 by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from Craig

I need to buy a printer for my computer. Which one has the least toxic ink?

Debra's Answer

What actually needs to be done to fully answer this question is to look at all the MSDS for printer inks and look up the toxicity of each hazardous ingredient that is listed, and find the one that is least toxic. That's something I could do, but I would need an assistant and funding. But I think it would be great to do and find out.

In general...

• The least toxic printers are the ones with an inked ribbon instead of a cartridge, such as a dot matrix printer.

• The next least toxic would be a laser printer, which has a powdered cartridge.

• Most toxic are the inkjet printers with an aqueous ink cartridge. These have some pretty toxic chemicals in them, including ethylene glycol and solvents like toluene and xylene.

There is a lot to research about the toxicity of printer inks and how we might be exposed to their toxic substances. And I don't think this has been researched at all. I found nothing.

For example, are there heavy metals in the colored inks that we might absorb when we touch them?

If you want to find out about the ink your printer uses, the MSDS for all of them are online. Be sure to get the MSDS for the exact printer model you have as formulas can be different from model to model and color to color.

It’s a good idea to run an air purifier in your home office. Read about air purifiers that remove both gases and particles in the Portable Air Purifier Buying Guide.