TONER FOR ELECTROSTATIC IMAGE DEVELOPMENT, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS USING THE SAME, PROCESS CARTRIDGE AND TONER-CONTAINING CONTAINER

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner for electrostatic image development for forming a high quality image having proper image density and very little background stain even after long-term repetitive use, and also to provide an image forming apparatus using the toner, a process cartridge, and a toner-containing container. SOLUTION: The toner for electrostatic image development is obtained as follows; a polymerizable mixture comprising a polymerizable monomer, a polymerization initiator, a colorant, a hydrocarbon-based release agent and a metal oxide-solvent dispersion is added to a solvent, this is poured in an aqueous dispersion medium system containing a suspension stabilizer and stirred to carry out granulation, toner particles are formed by polymerization by a suspension polymerization method, and a content of the solvent and polymerizable monomer in the toner particles is adjusted to ≤1 mass%, wherein the metal oxide-solvent dispersion is a sol or a wet gel in which the metal oxide comprises two or more rigid portions A and a linking portion B which links those, and the metal oxide-solvent dispersion becomes pH 2-6 when diluted with water in equal amounts. The image forming apparatus using the toner, the process cartridge and the toner-containing container are also provided. COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI