3D Printing Health Hazard?
Hello today I accidentally came across this interesting video and I want to comment on the topic. I don't want to sound paranoid, but I put health first especially when it depends on ourselves. What do you think of this video? I will mostly print with PETG and PLA because they are safer?? Hmmm. Still, after this video, I think it would be good for all of us who use the printer at home, not with a dedicated room or garage, to purchase some kind of HEPA and activated carbon air purifier. I am asking people who have been printing for many years to share what they think. I am wondering what is the size of the particles that are released when printing?? In online stores there are many filters for around 100 euros that capture "≥ 0.3 μm". Will they be effective if placed in front of the open doors of the printer while it is running?
RE: 3D Printing Health Hazard?
This topic comes up here from time to time - the consensus generally is that PLAand PETG themselves are not a problem but some of the pigments used to colour them might be.
The video 'evidence' needs some proving: The presenter doesn't offer any chemical analysis of the fragments he is tracing so we can't rule out other sources and other plastics. He has a cat, there is a good chance that puss is transferring dust into all the cosy places around the house.
I know the majority of the plastic fluff in my house comes from synthetic-fleece clothing, if he has, or has ever had, a fleece containing orange fibres then his video would be worthless.
But there is nothing wrong with ventilating through filters if you feel the need.
Many of us here have had printers running at high duty cycles for several years and whilst we are all getting older there are no reports of excessive incidence of diseases that might have a microfibre cause.
Cheerio,
RE: 3D Printing Health Hazard?
Here are some numbers and a bit about the subject. 3D Print Air Quality - PLA verses ABS and the Results You will be surprised by PLA and PETG filaments! However, I advise everyone to buy a filter system for the room and run it in front of the printer only when printing and turn it off 30 minutes after the print is finished. This will be my next upgrade... a HEPA+Carbon filter system
Cheers!
As his results don't include any of the background levels of any of his measured parameters this is hard to interpret. Location, time of year and time of day all need to be controlled for before these figures mean anything. If he lives near a busy road then the background will vary with traffic, if close to an industrial area then it will depend on wind direction...
Youtube is unreliable for real science. Follow up the references to properly conducted research and make your assessments accordingly - then maybe test your own environment before coming to conclusions.
Cheerio,
RE: 3D Printing Health Hazard?
🙂 :)Do not worry! Everyone makes their own choice!
Good night
RE:
There is scientific research happening in this area but given that conditions vary wildly it is hard to evaluate something without narrowing down the setup precisely.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S036013232200581 9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A review of emission characteristics and control strategies for particles emitted from 3D fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing
A few things seem to stand out. 3d printer do not only emit VOCs but also particles and they are according to what I have read primarely ultrafine, ie the more problematic kind. Those particles are smaller than the cutoff size of common airfilters. However, at that fine size, Brownian movement plays a big role, in other words, particles will collide with the filter and may adhere, even if they could pass due to the pore size theoretically. So air filters could be a strategy of removing at least a large share of those particles.
Active carbon filters do work for VOCs but the active carbon is a consumable, if you have a filter where there is only a thin layer of active carbon, this will be saturated fairly quickly and then it won't remove much anymore.
My personal strategy is to have enlcosures with ciruclating active carbon and particle filter, additionally an exhaust filter with slow air throughput (also with active carbon and particle filter) and venting the exhaust to an actively ventilated room or directly outside. That is not sufficient to prevent buildup of emissions over time entirely, the most powerful tool to manage emissions is simply ventilation. If you have a continually ventillated room in which you are not present during print for most of the time, than I think the risk is manageable.
A non scientific opinion of mine. Use your nose. If you notice the build-up of, plasticky smell etc over longer prints, ventilation may not be sufficient, you should certainly not smell anything at all in the rooms you spend a long time. Also if you don't smell anything but get unexplicable headaches this is a warning sign.
Mk3s MMU2s, Voron 0.1, Voron 2.4
RE: 3D Printing Health Hazard?
I ordered a filter for a 35 sq.m. room with a triple filter: large particles-TRUE HEPA 13, activated carbon. The room with the printer is about 12 sq.m. The printer will stand with half-open doors, which will direct everything to the filter, which will suck at full power 30 centimeters from the stream of harmful emissions. Other than that I will not stay in the room during a printing unless it is a 20-30 minute print. After printing, I will air the room for 20 minutes. The filter will work for another 1 hour after the print. This is my strategy for fresher air in the room that is both my office and bedroom.
RE: 3D Printing Health Hazard?
If you've got an enclosure why don't you put a filter in there so it is as close to the source of the problem as possible?
RE: 3D Printing Health Hazard?
I have! I made the IKEA version myself. The filter I bought is bulky, weighing 3 kilograms. And I will mainly print PLA and PETG. No problem with the doors open.