Link between UFPs and filament desiccation - ABS & Nylon particulates reduced when dried to 25% RH
While reading through Guy's excellent thread on dehydrators, I viewed Maker's Muse video on filament longevity and noticed this comment:
I headed up a NASA study regarding using 3D printing in space. One of our findings was that ABS and Nylon filaments did not create a measurable amount of particulates when extruded if they were desiccated to 25% RH prior to using them. They put off large amounts of particulates when stored at 50% RH then extruded. That's a great reason by itself to dry your filaments.
This is something I haven't read before, but it makes perfect sense. Filament that is bubbling and steaming, even if at low levels, puts out more particulates. I'm going to keep my eyes out for more discussion on this topic, but this might be of interest to those concerned about particulates. I wonder if this impacts the toxicity of ABS as well?
So not only does "pre-toasting" yield better results, but it might well go a long way towards addressing concerns about UFPs.