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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)

#121

Post by esskay »

brewdad wrote: post #105
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…

It may not be "news" but seeing as 3D printing is still very much at the Eternal September stage of growth with many less technical owners entering the hobby, it's a very good idea to keep putting this information and any new knowledge out there.

Yup, pretty much the reason I shared it. The 3d printing community is going through somewhat of a transition with the 'next generation' of 3d printers (Voron and Bambu Lab X1 & P1P). The latter is a high performance, high print quality consumer focused printer capable of printing anything from basic PLA up to complex carbon fiber and nylon based materials and all its got is a tiny little filter box which does next to nothing.

The worry is that people think "its got a filter built in, its fine" when its not even close to being true.

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

#122

Post by [deleted] »

[deleted] wrote: post #90
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…

[deleted]

[deleted]

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

#123

Post by esskay »

drakenot wrote: post #86
tarotuser wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can get them into a shed or an outbuilding, that's 99.9% of the problem solved. You can also enclose the printer. For example, the ender3 pro has a box bag that you can put the printer in. Solves the problem. My custom printer has the activated carbon airfilter/fan. Its probably overboard, but I did have that in my workspace for a while, so it was worthwhile for the time. I have no good metric when the filters…

I have an Bambu X1 Carbon in my office and print sometimes. It has a glass enclosure and Carbon Filters, but I have no idea how effective they are. Any ideas if having this enclosed printer in my office is a real danger?

The filter in the X1 isn't good enough to filter much out at all really. It's more of a gimmick than a genuine filter solution. I've put mine in an out building and installed a shower fan in the wall which is connected up to a relay controlled by a Raspberry Pi. I've then got an air quality sensor that triggers it turning on.

Even that isn't close to being enough to filter it all out and I'd certainly not stay in the room for any length of time whilst it was printing.

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

#124

Post by esskay »

tdeck wrote: post #81
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…

It sounds like the issue is particulates rather than gasses; in that case an activated carbon filter won't do much and a HEPA filter would be better.

With all the new materials that you can get I think a combination of both (plus venting to outside) is needed for real protection.

The current hot new printer is the Bambu Lab X1. It's aimed at consumers and is capable of printing things like Carbon Fiber Nylon, Polycarbonate and Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). These are far more volatile than run of the mill PLA and theres less studies available on their long term effects so take as many precautions as possible should be the message.

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

#127

Post by martin_a »

PetitPrince wrote: post #111
martin_a wrote: post #106

Headline: > Commercial 3D printers emit [...] Next paragraph: > [...] emitted from consumer-grade 3D printers Now what? Commercial or Consumer devices? Sorry, can't take this really serious if there's a mistake like this directly in headline/teaser text.

Maybe it's "commercial" as in "sold as a complete product" as opposed to a DIY printer using the RepRap firmware or similar ?

Doesn't make any sense. A self-built printer is using the same ABS/PLA like a one I bought.

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

#128

Post by Psychlist »

genderwhy wrote: post #118

People are saying 'ventilate'. Makes sense. I've got a resin printer in a large room with a crossbreeze, but I'd like to put in some more forced ventilation. Is there a quick thing I can buy that's got a small hood, inline fan, and waste vent? Or do I need to cobble something together myself out of flexible tubing? Is a portable hepa filter sufficient? I don't even know what to look for.

I'd start with a cheap kitchen rangehood, ideally with carbon filters (in Australia that's under $AU200) and either vent it outside to poison your neighbours or bang an air purifier on it. Sheets of perspex or light plywood as walls and you're good to go.

I'm way more up on the filtration side because I live in the land of bushfire smoke and 3D printers appear to be particulate problems too so I would try particulate filtering first because it's easy.

The box filters used in aircons and central heating work fine for this, but you probably need another fan to suck on them, not just the rangehood blowing.

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

#129

Post by alpaca128 »

asddubs wrote: post #99
bobbywilson0 wrote: post #52

I recently purchased a 3d printer, and I looked for articles talking about the risks associated with PLA fumes. This article[1] seems to be popularly cited, which includes the statement "PLA doesn’t look like a problem." I think this is what in my experience has been largely the sentiment when I have asked around, and read forum posts about the topic. At my local library there is a makerlab space, they are free to us…

I know that if I print PLA and stay in the room, it will give me a headache after a while. And I can definitely smell it, so at least something is getting released into the air. I don't know if that actually means it's harmful, but I stopped staying in the same room if a printer is running.

In over a year I've never noticed a smell from PLA during a print. Maybe that varies between manufacturer, some "PLA" filaments are actually weird mixes (like PLA+).

But keeping it in a separate room doesn't hurt.

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

#130

Post by GuB-42 »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #102
fnordpiglet wrote: post #69

Actual study: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b04168 It basically says PLA emits lactic acid and ABS a bunch of nastiness. There wasn’t much to indicate PLA emissions were particularly dangerous. That said, I’d not suggest locking yourself in a closet with your 3D printer. But given abs is full of nastiness and everything I’ve ever read about printing with it says it’s toxic and to ventilate, this article f…

In 3d printing circles and even 3d printer instruction manuals this has been written for years now... PLA is worse material (especially in regards for UV), but can be done inside, while ABS needs a heated surface and emits poisonous gasses so it should be done in separate ventilated areas (same for resin printers).

Don't dismiss PLA. It is a great material, it is strong, cheap and easy to print. Its greatest weakness as far as I'm concerned is heat resistance.

But there is a trick! You can anneal PLA in an oven, which will give it heat resistant properties similar to ABS, maybe a little better. It can be done with regular PLA, but the print will deform. If you don't need a very precise part, it can be sufficient, you can also compensate for the deformation by tweaking the model. Or you can use a specialized (and more expensive) filament like Volcano PLA that deforms very little during annealing.

Sometimes, ABS is called for, but it is not "better" than PLA. Especially after you consider the extra hassle printing it.

For UV resistance, AFAIK, neither ABS nor PLA are good. You probably should use ASA instead, which is like ABS but better in almost every way, UV resistance in particular. Unfortunately, it also releases nasty stuff, though it smells less. Or you can use PETG. Not as good as ASA, but easier to print and supposedly less toxic.

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