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Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

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Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#31

Post by calibas »

postalrat wrote: post #22
WhiteDawn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The results of this study actually presents that PLA fumes are more toxic than ABS fumes. In practice though, the study shows PLA is safer because of significantly less fume creation with the lower printing temperature. So relative risk for PLA is significantly lower than ABS, but it is incorrect to state that PLA is less toxic.

You can smell the ABS fumes so they must be worse for you. The nose knows! /s

The human nose is an extremely sensitive chemical detector, and should not be dismissed. It's effective down to a fraction of parts per trillion for certain chemicals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odor_detection_threshold#Odor_...

Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#32

Post by bgirard »

yreg wrote: post #6
seltzered_ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just melting chemicals but also forms of laser cutting materials too. E.g. reminded of the death of this couple from carbon monoxide (possibly but not concluded to be by a laser cutter setup) - https://www.berkeleyside.org/2017/04/20/still-mystery-inspec... , https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13507734

LASER cutting is also melting (and evaporating) chemicals.

Isn't cooking also cutting, melting, and evaporating chemicals? These definitions are overly broad. Isn't this how California ended up with Prop 65?

Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#33

Post by gruez »

zhala wrote: post #7

I've seen these studies before and done some testing of my own and found this to be true to some degree. I've used PMSA003I and BME688 sensors to check for particulate and VOC's. I didn't notice any significant increase in PM1 or PM2.5 (which is probably to be expected since the particles emitted are probably <1um and lower than I can detect). I did see some increase in VOC's but nothing alarmingly high from baseline…

> I've used PMSA003I and BME688 sensors to check for particulate and VOC's.

Keep in mind that the VOC sensors you're talking about aren't designed to pick up all types of VOCs. They're designed to detect specific types of VOCs (eg. ethanol or acetone) associated with human occupation and/or urban pollution[1], because that's the use case that they're designed for. If you use them to measure something entirely different (eg. plastic fumes), it shouldn't be surprising at all that they don't pick up anything.

[1] https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/media/boschsensortec/downloa...

Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#34

Post by Ekaros »

tarotuser wrote: post #28

This is NOT new news. Same discussion, from 2015 - https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/toxic-abs-pla-fumes-3dsa... And in 3d printing groups, it was common to hear people say "ABS smells like cancer". Sure, anecdotes aren't evidence proper, but the science certainly bears this claim. Edit: And to add my own anecdote, I have a large format high temp printer. It is capable of printing stuff like ultem (375c tip, 220c b…

All components of ABS are classified probably carcinogenic. Likely safe after being formed, but during process I think there is probably some risks...

Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#35

Post by Symbiote »

RugnirViking wrote: post #29
aosmith wrote: post #9

The chemicals used for resin printers make this look benign.

Use a straight up gas mask, lab goggles, and nitrile gloves with mine at a minimum. It's nasty stuff

When deciding whether to buy a resin printer, I found posts from teenagers, students etc who'd set up resin printers in bedrooms etc. "Oh, the fumes are no problem, I buy low-odour resin."

Great, we'll see what happens when they spill some on the carpet.

I'm sticking with FDM, and I take some measures to increase ventilation when I'm using that.

Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#36

Post by Filligree »

hot_gril wrote: post #27
esskay wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that smell, and rather annoyingly newer PLA's have somehow eliminated it. Which personally I dont see as a good thing. You used to know when someone was printing with PLA as it emitted a smell that was a mixture of a sweet popcorn and burning toast. These days they have little to no odour but I suspect its still putting out the exact same (if not worse) fumes.

Ah, that's unfortunate.

Some printers also come with full enclosures and HEPA filters, which do well at removing the smell -- and no doubt some of the larger fragments -- but do not actually remove the VOCs.

A good, recirculating activated carbon filter can do that. But then you need to swap it once per week (whether or not you've been printing), and you need the right type of carbon.

Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#38

Post by eli »

bgirard wrote: post #32
yreg wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LASER cutting is also melting (and evaporating) chemicals.

Isn't cooking also cutting, melting, and evaporating chemicals? These definitions are overly broad. Isn't this how California ended up with Prop 65?

Laser cutting brownies is probably fine. That said, there's plenty of evidence that fumes from cooking can negatively affect indoor air quality. You should always open a window when you cook.

Re: Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds (2019)

#40

Post by hedgehog »

bgirard wrote: post #32
yreg wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LASER cutting is also melting (and evaporating) chemicals.

Isn't cooking also cutting, melting, and evaporating chemicals? These definitions are overly broad. Isn't this how California ended up with Prop 65?

Fumes from many cooking processes are also pretty bad for respiratory health.
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