Desktop 3D Printers Shown To Emit Hazardous Gases and Particles (acs.org)

An anonymous reader writes: A new study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology by researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology and The University of Texas at Austin sheds more light on potentially harmful emissions from desktop FDM 3D printers. The researchers measured emissions of both ultrafine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from 5 commercially available polymer-extrusion 3D printers using up to 9 different filaments. [The researchers] found that the individual VOCs emitted in the largest quantities included caprolactam from nylon-based and imitation wood and brick filaments (ranging from ~2 to ~180 g/min), styrene from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) filaments (ranging from ~10 to ~110 g/min), and lactide from polylactic acid (PLA) filaments (ranging from ~4 to ~5 g/min). Styrene is classified as a "possible human carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC classification group 2B). While caprolactam is classified as "probably not carcinogenic to humans," the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) maintains low acute, 8-hour, and chronic reference exposure levels (RELs) of only 50, 7, and 2.2 g per cubic meters, respectively, all of which would likely be exceeded with just one of the higher emitting printers operating in a small office.

Comments

Re:No surprise here.

[MightyYar]

We can only hope that 3-D printers are someday as safe as chemistry sets.

Re:Don't Worry

[Dutch Gun]

Besides, if you do happen to get cancer, you can just 3D print yourself a replacement organ.

Re:No surprise here.

[SharpFang]

"Mostly"?

My uncle died when working with a chemistry set and standing upwind. He was just reducing CuO with Mg, standing upwind, when a drunk truck driver drove an 18-wheeler into his house killing him instantly.

Now if he only stood downwind, these 3 meters would have saved his life.