Dry toner, dry toner production process, and image forming method

An image forming method comprising:

• a charging step of applying a voltage to a charging member to charge an electrostatic latent image bearing member;
• an electrostatic latent image forming step of forming an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic latent image bearing member thus charged;
• a developing step of bringing a toner carried on a toner-carrying member into adhesion to the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image bearing member, to form a toner image on the electrostatic latent image bearing member;
• a transfer step of electrostatically transferring the toner image formed on the electrostatic latent image bearing member, to a transfer medium via, or not via, an intermediate transfer member;
• and
• a fixing step of fixing the toner image transferred electrostatically to the transfer medium;
• said toner being a dry toner comprising toner particles containing at least a binder resin, a colorant and a wax component, and an external additive, wherein;
• (1) said binder resin contains a component formed from a monomer selected from the group consisting of butadiene, isoprene and chloropene;
• (2) said toner has a main glass transition temperature (Tg) of from 40° C. to 70° C. as measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC);
• (3) where specific surface area measured by the BET method when the toner is left for 72 hours in an environment of 23° C. atmospheric temperature and 65% relative humidity is represented by A (m2/g) and specific surface area measured by the BET method when the toner is left for 72 hours in an environment of 50° C. atmospheric temperature and 3% relative humidity is represented by B (m2/g), the toner satisfies the following relationship:
• 0.8≦A≦4.0, 0.80≦(B/A)≦1.05;
• (4) in a toner's number-based circle-corresponding diameter/circularity scatter diagram as measured with a flow particle image analyzer, said toner has a circle-corresponding number-average particle diameter Dl of from 2 μm to 10 μm and has an average circularity of from 0.950 to 0.995 and a circularity standard deviation of less than 0.040;
• and
• (5) said toner has, in its molecular-weight distribution of tetrahydrofuran (THF)-soluble matter as measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), a main-peak molecular weight in the region of from 2,000 to 100,000 and contains a THF-insoluble matter in an amount of from 5% by weight to 60% by weight.