Resin will melt your brain. Breath it for too long 10+min and you'll start feeling drunk before passing out a bit later. So make sure it's VENTILATED where you are. (My reference is regular epoxy resin, not the 3d stuff but should he similar)
@@_Xantras_ that's horrifying. a gas mask is definitely a minimum requirement. Scary part is you don't even realize it's happening until it's starting to affect your mobility.
I also print ASA 90% of the time - in my small studio apartment and have been doing so for 7+ years. However I haven't seen any PM2.5 increase when running my printers and the sensor is very close to one of the printers.
@@Brainwash110 Really???? How can you guys be in the same room as ASA is being printed? I have only two rolls and whenever I need to print ASA, I HAVE TO leave the room and ventilate it afterwards holding my breath to open a window because the smell is so intense I can't tolerate it at all. The one I have is from BambuLabs
So funny enough, my lab at work spent $20,000 to get a professional company to do air quality assessments when our Bambu’s and Form 4 is running. Only did it with PLA. Nothing bad in the samples, though there were massive PM 2.5 spikes. Again, what was in the air was very low in concentration, well below any TWA average but didn’t pass indoor air quality; they checked for many many chemicals. So yes, lots of PM 2.5, but what that PM 2.5 was wasn’t of any significant concern. Don't know if this comment will get traction. I’ll see if we can show the results one day. Wow, got a lot of traction. I'll UPDATE here: Our setup is two X1C's, a Form 4, Wash L and Cure L, within vicinity of each other in a corner area of what was originally a warehouse so the ceiling is 40 feet above us. I expected the Wash L filled with IPA to be the main culprit for VOC's and it was. For PM2.5 it's a bit of a tough call as the area has soldering being done on and off and is generally dusty. The TWA for compounds was below all thresholds but PM2.5 being above IAQ could also be from the fact our facility is in an area where tons of 16-wheelers stop and go by during the day. Personally I'm sure some still comes from the printing itself, but these might be PLA microparticles they just don't have a spectrum check for. Mind you, the 'spike' was pretty close to the IAQ limit which is why it passed TWA, but again, almost anything in the air will count as PM2.5. What I am happy for is that we'll be designing a new area soon and first thing I added was extractor hoods for the zone which will be enclosed completely. I'll see if I'm allow to publish results (as these don't explicitly belong to me). We used a 3rd party to analyze and I was there to monitor the contractor the entire time, no conspiracy here. We had samples go through spectroscopy to analyze pages worth of compounds.
I can’t be around PLA printing for more then a few minutes before I get very congested and it will last for at least a few days. Had to move my printer to the garage and installed large 10” carbon filters to remove whatever is in the air from it.
I think it's worth noting that most air purifiers that have activated carbon in their filters are meant to filter odours, not harmful pollutants. There's so little carbon in there, it almost feels like a joke.
@@adameichler I think "a lot" would be one or two shoebox sized volumes of it, accompanied by a fan that has enough power to do aactually move air through those. The only home appliance I can think of that has this are very high end kitchen hoods.
@@markus30000 Yeah, it's not that big. The filter is conveniently +- shoebox sized, so you would need like 5 of those filters to achieve the thickness of a box. And its volume is not 100 % carbon, it's carbon pelets in a honeycomb structure.
@@adameichler I saw some reduction in VOCs with the Förnuftig carbon filter, but like most residential "air purifiers" it's better suited for keeping VOCs low in an already low-VOC environment like your living or bedroom.
I read an article a few years ago that you are exposed to dangerous levels of voc’s when you buy a new sofa with foam cushions and the memory foam mattresses can both of gas for weeks after installation. My printers are in a dedicated room where I don’t work while printers are running. Years ago photocopiers and laser printers had to be installed in a dedicated room with high ventilation due to toxic fumes. This is an issue that’s around us everyday and not just 3d printing.
One youtuber did some tests on his print room too... He kept getting spikes when he increased ventilation. He concluded that being neighbour to 3 construction sites made the outside air much worse than his printer Room
I got bladder cancer and the first question the doctors asked me is "do you work with industrial chemicals?" - seems that exposure to toxic chemicals is the number one reason for bladder cancer. I don't work with toxic chemicals but did spend a lot of time printing various plastics I spend almost no time in the presence of a print in progress now.
How much do you print at all? I mean most of us have only been printing for 10 years; and most of us only once every few weeks, not comparable with occupational amounts of exposure, which is 40 hours a week for 40 years. Besides many of us might have other hobbies with ignored chemical hazards, such as related to paints, solvents, plastics or wood composite airborne particulate, epoxy resins and so on. Usually one thing leads to another before we got our 3D printer, and that path is rarely healthy.
@@SianaGearz I've been printing since 2011, in the early days it was almost exclusive ABS. I spent way too much time watching prints at close range in a small shed (back then prints would often fail). I agree you cannot be safe blaming one thing, I used to smoke as well. I just found it surprising that the doctors seemed to think that that type of cancer is almost always due to toxicity in industry.
@@hexitexcan confirm, I worked in quality control for a company producing spray paint and varnishes, mainly for industrial and automotive applications, most if not all products contained known or at least potential carninogens. Within two years working there I've got to know more people suffering and dying from cancer than anywhere else I've ever been...
@@hexitex But the good thing about a shed instead of your home is that you can ventilate it and while in your bedroom you are far away from it. I watch my prints go down with camera's with zoom-functionality to avoid problems with my astma too for example. Sometimes I have had a 3D-printer in the living-room and only with PLA and that already got me having much more problems with that. I really hope not to catch cancer from all the things I have been breathing in though...... but much of my problems come from outside for example the neighbours that are burning not clean wood (or sometimes clean), giving a plasticy smell inside my house too and sometimes make my smoke-detectors go off when I have the windows open. My airfilters in the house work a lot and catch a lot of black dust in wintertime...
Bought my first home 3D printer in 2014. Ran mostly ABS for 3 years in an enclosed, heated system. Some of the First things I printed were parts to mount a Noctua fan with high static pressure on top of the enclosure to pull the fumes out of the enclosure, through some 4" ducting to a custom installed window frame that mounted an air conditioner and had a clear polycarbonate panel with a through passage to the outside that the ducting would flow through, evacuating the fumes and particulates from the room the printer was in. Had an activated charcoal and dust filter on the outside to mitigate the impact on the environment. I also flipped the power supply over to pull fresh air through it instead of from the chamber and into my room, and got some free chamber heating in the process! Had variable speed control on the fan to help regulate the chamber temps depending on bed temp. No smell, no headaches, no nasty fumes or materials going into my lungs! 👍 Mike in San Diego. 🌞🎸🚀🖖 Former R&D Engineer with 30 years of experience.
I'm in NYC and have been considering this type of solution. I want a window shroud with ventilation hole that I can plug exhaust hose into. Then I just need to alter my printer to have negative pressure and exhaust fumes to the ventilation hose. I'd like to make it general purpose for also exhausting solder fumes and heat.
@@sleeplessdev7204 you can add a HEPA and pre-charcoal filter by just finding filter replacements for air purifiers and putting them in line. Your neighbor with an open window probably wont even have a plan to find you alone in a dark alley if you filter that air before belching it out of your place and into their window ;)
@@LackofFaithify Actually my window opens right at sidewalk level. Perfect opportunity to give those morning walkers a face full of VOC's 😁 But of course I'll add some inline filters... it would be too easy to identify me if I didn't 😏
It's great to see someone finally talk seriously about the elephant in the room. The numbers presented may not be accurate enough to know exactly what's going on. This video is however significantly better than Joel stuffing his head into the enclosure during an ABS print, taking a big whiff, and saying "Dis not so good."
I think it was Scotty of Strange Parts, when reviewing the Micronics SLS, who said you would need a separate room to use this printer, especially when doing the sifting. I appreciate Thomas's efforts here, and I hope there are more discussions and tips on how to make our workshops safer.
I print only with PLA but even then it worries me what some companies put into it. Their own undisclosed 11 herbs and spices. 'Prints nicer now' sure, sure... but why...? They don't give out that info so how can I know it doesn't give me extra chance of cancer as well. There are so many kinds of PLA now, +, high speed and some other mumbo jumbo.
Well guys it's a lot of common sense too. Vent things outdoors, give good fresh air. Avoid printing in living areas. We all know enough about asbestos, silica, sawdust or even how gas range cooktops create pollutants. There's no reason for us to be complacent with this due to a lack of data. Save your helpa filters for regular indoor living spaces.
@@ShivaTD420 I'd rather not print outdoors. Also we are dealing with plastics and other micro particles that we don't even know what they are... comparing it to asbestos is quite frankly idiotic... I guess being blissfully unaware is one attitude one might use. Also please, it today's day and age most of us can't afford a separate room dedicated to printing stuff or hobbies. At this point bare minimum is a dream for a lot of people. If the stuff they add is safe then there's no reason why we shouldn't fight for it to be disclosed to us. More knowledge is always better.
@@ares395 didn't say put it outside I said ventilation to outside. If a vent hood can suck out toxic gasses from a lab experiment. Then these printers should be far easier. Treat them similar to a laser cutter/engraver. Where there is negative pressure so nothing can leak out. Maintain this negative pressure by having more exhaust cfm. Filtration of industrial process puts you into filters that are 600-1000 that need 600$ fans to move their air through them to reach their protection ratings. These filters only last a year and do nothing for voc.
Yep, if you're going into safety there's way more to consider then you may expect. Like using gloves, you need the correct type but also a way of working with them. In the lab I was working we sometimes didn't use them to avoid touching the entire room "because gloves are safe right". Etc. :)
Safety is mostly an illusion… if you start pulling this thread you might end up actually slightly safer but feeling 💯less safe with a dash of paranoia 😵💫.
@@MakerBees333 No offence but what facts are You basing Your opinion on ?? Because to me Your comment just looks like a misdirected attempt at being """edgy""" It makes me curious, would You for instance tear out asbestos isolation or work in a spraypaint booth totaly without ppe? If not then why ? Best regards
Interesting! When I first started printing I noticed I always had a sore throat whenever my printer was running, even printing PLA & PETG. Ever since, I've always built enclosures and vented it out. This micro-plastic exposure will undoubtedly have long term effects, we just don't have the data yet.
Microplastics have been around since the early 1960s. We need better science, not the hyperbolic junk science just designed to alarm people. BPA was a good example of false toxicology.
100% just wait until folks have built up enough PLA/ABS/PETG nanoparticles in their lungs and bloodstream for there to be a study, it just hasn't happened YET. Eventually we'll have something called "3d lung" and I am pretty sure all those nano particles are probably going to affect our endocrine system and we're already seeing plastic building up in the brain as they can already pass through the blood brain barrier.
I print exclusively with PC and the fumes are nasty. Tom is right about the silicone heaters likewise emit far more dangerous fumes at higher temps. Great post Tom! This episode is a throwback to the good old days when you started - packed with valuable information everyone can use! Thank you.
Very surprised there was no mention of the Nevermore filter project! It's an open-source recirculating filter with a few configurations. They're mainly intended for Vorons but can be installed in/on any printer. I have a Nevermore StealthMax and it holds about 1lb of activated carbon pellets. It has VOC sensors in the intake and exhaust to verify the filter is working as it should. You want to really seal up your printer well because it is a recirculating filter. The more times the air passes through, the cleaner it will be. Plus, you don't want unfiltered air leaking out. It's very effective and I really appreciate the effort the contributors have put into it.
Hi, i am building two StealthMax filters for my Vorons 2.4 and Trident. I also want to include the VOC UV Filter. Do you have tried out the UV Filter addon ? Does it really work ?
the nevermore is just way too small to be an effective solution. if anything, it gives you a false sense of safety. extraction is what you want if you dont want to have a filter the size of the printer.
@@drkastenbrot The sensors prove it works as expected and the carbon lasts me ~350 printing hours before the intake/exhaust VOC delta gets too small. Like I said, the StealthMax [S] versions hold quite a lot of carbon, and with a well-sealed enclosure I don't see why this wouldn't be a perfectly fine solution.
@@MarioTheModder That's not a lot of carbon and I doubt the sensor proves anything. What sensor do they use? Because all consumer ones will give you only relative values and lots of them autocalibrate in a short period, a sensor sitting permantently in the contaminated environment will take it as the baseline
@@PrimalShutter They use two SGP40s, one on intake and one on exhaust. Calibration is disabled during printing. Relative measurements are all you need, you just need to know that the air is getting cleaner as it goes through the filter. If the printer is sealed, nothing is getting out anyway. You should look into the project, they've done a lot of research and detailed write-ups of these topics. In your experience, how much carbon is enough?
Thanks for reporting on this health issue, the community needs more awareness. 7 years ago I was printing some ABS and stunk up the house, my gf freaked out and forbid me from printing anymore. I did my homework, and learned that pretty much all filaments emit VOCs, so I agreed and stopped the hobby altogether. But I really wanted to print again, and 3 years later I came up with a proper solution. I got a Printed Solid enclosure for my Prusa, installed a couple 60mm Noctua fans, attached a couple 2" diameter duct hoses, and ran them out a nearby window through an MDF gap filler panel. It worked better than I expected, you can't smell a thing with ABS, and exhaust ventilation is sufficient for printing PLA with the enclosure closed (enclosure temp rise is only around +5C). Last year, I got a Prusa XL and immediately made a custom enclosure. I designed it to fully control airflow, with intakes in the front bottom, and 4x 80mm Noctua fans that exhaust out two 3" duct hoses, again through the same window panel. It works great, enclosure temp rise with PLA is only about +6C, so I can print all filaments with the enclosure fully closed. My XL enclosure looks similar to the SUMO, but the SUMO doesn't actually control airflow. I don't like Prusa's XL enclosure either, but I can't really say if it's properly designed for controlling airflow. Essentially, both of my enclosures are negative pressure cases, sucking in fresh air near the bottom, and exhausting out the fan ports. I'm not a fan of the filter approach. These devices and consumables are expensive and less than 100% effective. And don't forget that pretty much all enclosures require you to open them up for PLA, so no filtering at all. PLA will give me a headache after a few hours, so this is unacceptable to me. Exhausting out the window is essentially free, 100% effective, and works for all filaments.
Totally agree with you that some enclosure or air pollution management system is a must in 3D printing , and that it really doesn't have the attention it deserves, just as a precaution measure before we know more about their effects. However I would personnally still be quite uncomfortable simply exhausting it out, because it's just displacing the problem, not a long term solution. On the one hand, even though hepa filters are usually "only" around 99 % effective, you can get a nearly identical result as a hypothetical 100% filter would yield just by recylculating the same air enough times through the filter. One could imagine a 3D printer with an airtight enclosure, and an air filtering system composed of some of those semi-flexible aluminium pipes + fan + filter. If you just choose a duct fan that has a big enough volumetric flow it could generate enough air flow inside the enclosure that it would probably also help cool down those PLA layers even with the higher temperatures that that an enclosed printer involves. And I guess that those aluminium pipes, routed outside of the printer would also act as an air heat exchanger. But obviously, it will need to be tested. On the other hand, it would be interesting to know how well are those used hepa filters managed as a waste to find out whether this step doesn't release those filtered particles again somehow in nature.
Venting outdoors is an incredibly effective solution - even Prusa's print farm just has a simple negative pressure, constant-flow setup that simply doesn't let emissions escape from the printer bays. In colder, hotter, or more humid temperatures, that might however cause some issues with unconditioned air being sucked back into the house in other spots - for me, I'll be be rearranging my ERV ventilation unit to add and remove air more precisely where it's needed (i.e. hooking it up directly to printer enclosures)
@@MadeWithLayers You're right, all exhausted air is replenished by air leaking back into the house from other spots. And if Noctua's rated max CFM specs were realized (total of 140CFM), then my entire home would be fully ventilated in under 5 hours. I'm in hot and humid Atlanta, so these stats give pause for concern. But these fans have low static pressure, so in reality they're pulling quite a bit less than 5 CFM total, due to various air restrictions (ribbed ducting, insect blocking mesh, undersized air ports, and the general 'tightness' of our home's weathersealing providing backpressure). Take a deep breath, open your mouth wide, and expel your breath slowly onto the back of your hand, such that you can barely even feel it (done right, it should take you 10+ seconds to expel). What you're feeling there is approximately the air intake speed of one of my XL enclosure intake ports. An adult male's lung capacity is approximately 6 liters, or 0.21 cubic feet. So this equates to about 1 CFM. Since I have 2 air intakes on my XL enclosure, let's double this and estimate that I have around 2 CFM of airflow through my enclosure. This low air speed is desirable, because one of the main benefits of an enclosure is blocking drafts that might affect print quality and bed adhesion. It would be silly to have so much ventilation airflow to create harmful drafts. I've gone through various fans and ducting solutions to arrive at what I consider a desirable exhaust rate, a barely perceptible gentle breeze, not even strong enough to hold a tissue to the air intake. Any less and the enclosure overheats for PLA, so I've tuned it to be just enough. Looked at another way, the estimated enclosure exhaust flow (both enclosures combined) in 24 hours is roughly equivalent to a quality bathroom fan running for 15-30 minutes. Yes, there's an impact, but no it's not really noteworthy. If I had a print farm then I might feel otherwise, but for just 2 printers I'm quite happy with this setup.
Exhausting outdoors isn't free, for most people heating/cooling your home is by far one of your biggest expenses, so depending how you go about this, you're comparing a ~$100 year cost on filters vs upwards of $1000+ a year on additional heating/cooling, also nothing is "100% effective" unless you have your printer in some sort of airtight container you'll always get some leakage or air floating off in an undesired direction, so basically if this is a big concern for you, put the printer away from indoor spaces such as a garage or shed, only then can you remotely call it free but still filters are cheap and last a long time, you're really not saving much if any money with any solution that isn't as simple as move the printer.
Thanks for briging this up, I had the same reaction with ABS and wouldnt print it because of it, then finally caved in with a janky ventilation setup after some time away from printing. It was ok but still a little smelly overall. A proper enclosure with ducts and fans is a great idea.
Please consider doing a follow-up on this with other filaments for TPU, PC, Nylon, CF infused filaments (Or could CF pose the risk of damaging of causing permanent offsets to the air sensors, since they are conductive?)
I want to echo the concern about carbon fiber. There's no reason to believe printing with it is any less hazardous than asbestos. Or it might be fine! We just don't know because there hasn't been much research and there hasn't been enough time for people to start getting weird cancers.
I’m not sure the dust being conductive would affect the particle sensors at least, but maybe I’m misunderstanding. If you look into how they measure particles in the air, they’re actually optical! They have little chambers/mazes inside with a laser beam bouncing throughout, and the scattering on the other side determines how how many and what size particles are present. It’s super interesting, seems like magic, recommend looking into it. But conductivity shouldn’t matter at least for the pm2.5 sensors :)
@@fwiffo Probably not as bad as asbestos, which I think can continue to split/break down in your body. It's probably more comparable to fiberglass, which is also very scary, just not quite as much.
can i just say that you have been a force in my life man, more useful than most educators in the traditional sense. you have been the modern bill nye the science guy of the 3d printing and manufacturing world for me. please keep up the amazing work and wonderful clear and thorough videos!
Thank you for the video!really interesting. Among the 3D printing RUclipsrs I follow, you are the first who asked himself what are we breathing while printing (and you have done a pretty good research and testing as well). Safety first!
Actually there are a bunch of them. Those rummors have been talked about earlier in All3Dprint, Nathan Builds Robots, The next Layer, 3D print professor (5 years ago!), Lost in tech...this subject is raising concern more and more.
I am very glad you posted this video, many people think if they don't smell it, it is not there, and therefore not harmful. Thanks for smashing that myth. I would be thrilled to see a follow up with testing for PLA+ and PLA Super Tough, as well as testing how effective those soft-sided zippered enclosures you can get on Amazon are.
One thing to note is that whilst (activated) carbon filters can be used to filter VOCs, they don't magically filter them in an instant - you actually need to cycle the air through them multiple times to cut down the VOCs. You will need either run a filter for a longer period of time (increase the number of filtration cycles), or have multiple filters in-line, or both. That puny little filter that comes in some 3D printers isn't going to make too much of a dent unless the printer is engineered to recycle the air through the filter for extended periods of time before venting to the room. Aside to that, VOCs are also found in adhesives/ chemicals used in treating wood products (plywood, OSB, MDF etc. and the glues for the laminates/ veneers) - some suppliers/ manufacturers use more modern adhesives that have minimal VOCs but you really wouldn't know. This has become much more of an issue (locally here in Singapore) in the recent years as cheaper materials sourced from China tend to have a large amount of VOCs like formaldehyde. Vinyl flooring is also another culprit as well. There are suppliers of such materials and adhesives that are low VOC but the prices are substantially higher. It's been an issue that's gaining sufficient awareness that there are even documentaries and news reports made on such matters.
Testing like this is so important to the community! Thank you for digging into the details and helping us make more informative safe decissions! I'd love to see more on this kind of stuff down the road! Thanks again ❤!
Thanks very much for this report and video. A few weeks ago I downplayed it when my partner said she had an allergic reaction after I had been making some long prints in my office / studio. The printer (a K1C) is mostly enclosed, but I often ran it with the top cover off and door open. After watching this, I told her she was probably right. Several weeks ago, I began the build of an enclosed chamber to sit on top of the K1C case so I can feed filament from above the print head. I'm glad I did, and now I will never use the printer with anything open. The back fan vents to the outside through a window and a long clothes drier vent hose. Hopefully this will keep the enclosure at negative pressure and force all the nasty stuff outside.
Testing protocol will be a problem here because these are almost hermetically enclosed (except the new tilting hood ones). There are been tests showing the emission mostly occurs during printing where you're not supposed to be in contact with the air enclosed in. The main concern is the post treatment part when you open the lid and use solvents to wash the print and cure it.
Everyone I've ever seen using a resin printer has it vent directly outside. The risks of resin are well understood, it's filament printers that really need the close examination.
@@kaijuultimax9407 Really? Almost every post/video i see someone using it, is the opposite. Barefood watchting to the printer, while printer is sitting on the ground and picking up the uncured print with bare hands. No Respirator wearing ofc (The most common thing being not used) and then everything without any fume extraction. Maybe at least those USB Filters inside that almost do nothing. And that even from known RUclipsrs like UncleJessy that is often wearing no gloves and respirator while holding the uncured print on the plate into the camera. It's insane. I could just even pick up many of those examples from my browser history of this and last weeks.
Thank you for doing the research and setting up a test rig. I'd be really interested to compare your results with: being in a room with a burning candle, sitting in traffic, air in a pub / restaurant, air in a city vs the country. Whilst the numbers are concerning compared to the WHO, the micromort risk vs other daily activities is probably what I should be evaluating. I would be surprised if printing ABS is worse than sitting in a bath surrounded by candles.
Newer houses are MUCH more airtight than older houses which makes this a bigger concern if you happen to live in a newer house. But they tend to have heat recovery ventilators for the entire house which you could crank up.
Pretty much all new houses will have forced ventilation. I go beyond 8 air changes per hour in the room with my 3D printers if I crank up the MVHR system way up and optimize the air flow. For reference you'll get about 1 in a normal old house and 2 in a drafty old house. Normally you'll be at least at 0.5 changes per hour in a new house with a heat recovery ventilation system.
…and note, this topic is also supposed to be very important for inkjet printers, which people are often exposed to for days (years) throughout their lives…
@@kendokaaa Plus he's forgetting about the wood material in itself. The glues and resins that stick MDF, OSB or plywood together as a material being the main culprits here.
If you look at professional air extraction and filter systems for soldering, welding or laser cutting, you start to get an idea of what a good filter cost, how big and heavy they need to be to be somewhat effective at removing air pollution. The little "activated carbon" filters might be handy, but they only capture a very small amount and need to be replaced often to have any effect at all. Would have been interesting to see if you can actually measure how fast the filters degrade over time. Maybe you will pick that data up over time if you keep your data collectors running and track the runtime of the filters?
Oh finally, glad that you are covering this important topic! Interesting to see what Prusa is doing, with the recent safety certificate that tests their own Prusament used on their own printers.
Id love to see a diy video about building that air quality sensor! I've wanted to make one of those for myself! Especially now that we have this video to compare and reference to! Absolutely love the video, thank you!
The white powder from petg needs to be looked at and figure out what it is, as it might be antimony trioxide. Most petg resins contain small amounts of antimony oxide as it's the most common catalyst used for petg polymerization and it's a white powder. What little bit of research I can find about antimony oxide in petg suggests that it does come out of the plastic during reprocessing, ie melting like 3d printing. Antimony trioxide is toxic and a suspected of causing cancer.
I made a VOC monitor with a Sensiron SGP41, and while a Dyson in the area doesn't tick up for VOCs, the Sensiron goes through the roof having defrosted a piece of sourdough bread and toasted it without burning. I think this is from the release of aldehydes, which the SGP is sensitive to, and potentially Formaldehyde. This is for a relatively short time compared to printing of course, and can be mitigated to some extent by opening windows and setting the extractor going, but had me questioning whether I should stop toasting bread. Clothing tends to be a source of VOCs too due to washing, and we're potentially in a mini VOC fog if we're not moving around. I started getting purifiers, which are definitely effective for particles, but not so much for VOCs as Thomas found. I've a massive carbon filter with 6" air ducting in my resin printer tent, and that does seem to work well for that. With thankfully not too bad air outside where I am in the UK apart from NOx and PM reads sometimes, opening a window is effective at reducing the VOCs coupled with the purifier. We also breath out VOCs, sometimes large amounts, and so if sitting close to a sensor, that can skew readings.
Excellent video, with multiple sensors used! Been playing with most of these sensors, and you need more varieties to get good picture, as they all measure slighly different type of stuff. Glad to see you used a bunch to get a good picture!
Having a background in biology and chemistry, I always felt a bit baffled that people run 3d printers in open air in their homes. I decided to build an enclosure box I could keep at lower pressure than my home (vents outside) before doing any printing. I kind of assumed it was a requirement to run these machines healthily. Glad to know I'm not alone in my concerns.
I too find it absolutely nuts that people are happily running open deck printers inside their living space whilst playing with their kids meters away. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that exposure to fumes from 3d printing is harmful. I set mine in my workshop inside a repurposed old commercial open deck refrigerator that has been essentially converted into a fume cabinet venting externally. Not in my wildest dreams would I run it inside the house where my toddler lives. And people should be very afraid when printing with filament so dodgy that the manufacturers will not provide an MSDS.
Having a background in engineering. I put my printers in a closet that is basically a large fume Hood with a reasonably powered 3/4 horsepower extraction fan. Keep the sound down and the smells from percolating into the house...
Thanks, it matches my thoughts, hopes and measurements with the Ikea tVOC/pm2.5 sensor (VINDSTYRKA). I have no way to test the sensor for accuracy but noticed the drop in tVOC when turning on the Fornuftig. Also measured the impact of a Nevermore Micro in the enclosure and that also kept tVOC under control. BTW there is an easy way to put and ESP into the Fornuftig and have it controlled by domotica (for example ESPHome/Home Assistant). The Fornuftig will just turn on when any printer isn't idle or when the pm2.5 or tVOC values are above some set value.
As someone with a similar system (vindriktning with an esp8266 hacked into it for pm2.5 sensing), I recommend just turning the dial on it to max airflow and plugging it into a smartplug. I have home assistant turn on my corsi-rosenthal box when pm2.5 exceeds federally safe levels and it's significantly helped air quality in my awfully ventilated apartment (gets really bad during cooking).
This video is extremely helpful and important! We should raise more awareness to harmful influence of various 3D printing filaments and resins. I think those build up over the years and maybe one day we will have to deal with the consequences. We do this hobby because we want to create cool things not to destroy our health
Environmental air quality is something that once you learn about it, you feel a bit of a hypochondriac. But in reality, I think it's just the standards for all this stuff are really low, or just not well known.
I got my first printer in 2021 and in a month i built an almost sealed enclosure with a large tube running outside and a 3000 rpm 140mm fan pulling air out, this created a negative pressure that was drawing fresh air into the enclosure and "dirty smelly" air out. Glad to see this has been a good decision, i did it mostly to guarantee control over the printing environment and to avoid the strong smell, it worked great in reducing noise and power consumption while printing. While printing abs for example i limit the amount of air i let into the chamber, making it get to 50c this means that the heated bed is working a lot less to keep the high temperature.
I would argue that an enclosure can actually help preventing the fumes from entering the room when you properly seal it. I use a 60 cm server closet with dampening mats and gaskets for the doors so there is very little exchange between room and enclosure. Inside of it I use a small bento box filter that circulates the air and runs even after a print is finished. Additionally I use a room filter with active carbon and hepa 12. Medion has some cheap options with affordable replacement filters.
I run all my printers in a seperate room, and unless its PLA im printing I really dont like spending more than a few minutes in there. The room being absolutly tiny isnt helping of course
This is really great work Tom, and shocking that there's less of this information presented from manufacturers. I would love to see a similar quantitative study for the resin printers.
I don't get why companies don't take this seriously and don't do proper research? Maybe reason is that they will loose profit but at what cost? People printing stuff in bedrooms without proper warning from producers about their tech. Sure it is your own responsibility to protect own health but that should be introduced at manual level for machines and filaments as mandatory.
Obviously because they don't want to be held accountable. By not testing for it proactively, it's much easier to get away with a "we didn't know" Nothing about this will likely change until EU will pass some regulation that forces companies to test this stuff.
When I got a printer 3 years ago I was paranoid about the smell so I built an enclosure with an exhaust vent. That way I could exhaust any particles outside once a print was finished. I'd leave it on while retrieving the print so disturbed particles would be less inclined to leave through the door.
This is a good start in the conversation about fumes but I’d love to see more. For example, I’d love to learn more about the ingredients in PLA filaments, the additives added by manufacturing companies, whether cheap PLA is more toxic than more expensive PLA, etc.
Thank you very much for those important informations! Maybe I didn´t got it from the video. In the end (around 14:20 ) you stated that one option could be adding a filter into the housing of the printer and generating a negativ environment. Did you "only" do the test with the ikea filter or do you have some data with just the prusa enclosure+ activated filter?
I only tested with the dedicated Ikea filter, but I would assume that the HEPA part of the Prusa air filter would be highly effective at capturing and removing the particles emitted while printing. For the activated carbon part, I'm not sure about how much that's actually going to do.
@@MadeWithLayers Thank you very much for your quick reply! I’m currently on my way to integrate some sensors to Home-Assistant, to take some measurements and protocol them myself. Thanks for the inspiration!
Good video. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but it feels slightly weird to cover this topic without mentioning Nathan Builds Robots who has been covering these issues recently. I guess it's just more in the zeitgeist now. Some things I would have liked to see covered in more detail: activated carbon gets used up, and unlike indicating silica beads you can't tell when it's "full". So-called "HEPA" filters on Amazon and especially AliExpress are a minefield of fake and uncertified products, similar to N95 masks during the pandemic. Would have liked to see a comparison with venting outdoors, different sizes of HEPA filters. NBR went into a bit more detail about which particles are the most harmful which I found useful. Also there was a pretty big gap between your sensors which makes me wonder how accurate the data was. But overall I thought the coverage was quite good.
Thanks for finally speaking about this, this has been one of the reasons I personally don't want a printer in my flat and when warning/ informing others about this problem, I usually am not being taken serious at all...
I am sure I developed asthma soon after I started 3d printing at home and was very sensitive the the smell of PLA some more than others. I eventually purchased a VAX AP03 and run it while printing and it was a big improvement until I could setup in a workshop with all the printers in sectioned off area with fans pulling air outside. It has taken far too long for someone to look into this so thank you.
I have been seeing video's about this at least for over 5 years. This is far from the first video on youtube for example. If you search, you will find much more details then in this short video.
I'm a chemist so maybe my Air holes are destroyed but I've never noticed anything with PETG, I've had one problem with PLA and that was with creality filament, it gave me a headache once.
@@AndrasBuzas1908 Prusament Galaxy black used to give me the worst headaches and Protopasta smell was stuck in my nose for a few days. I have had polyps removed and have almost no sense of smell, but for some reason I can smell filament.
@@leesmithsworkshop I did some searching and then got some suggestions in a row. Probably also some German ones since that is 3rd language to me (Dutch - English - German - Czech - French are the order in which I understand languages, English and German mostly on youtbe).
I moved all my printers into a 4' x 8' Vivosun grow tent and made an exhaust system to port it out through the sliding glass door. Highly recommended and cheaper than expected.
thank you very much for in-depth analysis and efforts. I really liked the video. 👍 I just got into this new hobby of 3-D printing for the first week. I kept the printer in my bedroom, but then I felt uncomfortable due to the noises and the fear of inhaling the fumes so I moved it to the storage room and it has a huge window. So whenever I print something, I just open the window and let the air circulate itself. Also, I have a DIY HEPA air purifier. I just bought the filter for the Xiaomi air purifier and slapped industrial EBM PAPST fan on it, and I’m good to go.👍
Even printing with PLA, made me feel dizzy and nauseous. So I build an cabinet from two IKEA tables and put my printer inside, then installed an air vent from the cabinet towards my attic one floor above my room. A 3000 RPM desktop pc fan is used for airflow, fan RPM is pwm controlled based on the nozzels temperature I read from my printers API. My nauseous feeling is completely gone now, as wel are all mice that used to live on my attic...
When I put my hobby room together I installed extractor vents and a large fume cupboard to work in with the thought of getting anything out of the room regardless of what I knew about it. You can never be too safe if you don't know what you are doing.
The VOC emissions from PETG are a little surprising considering the squeaky-clean performance from earlier studies, but it is important to remember that there are literally hundreds of different formulations under each polymer type. Filament makers generally aim for consistent _performance_ across a polymer type with all the pigments they're using, rather than consistent emissions. Plus without something like a spectrometer, it's impossible to determine whether the VOC emitted is super toxic at X parts per trillion (e.g. dioxins) or toxic if you swim in it while drinking it (e.g. ethanol, acetone). IMHO the best way to deal with VOC emissions is to simply vent the air outside. You can make a pretty good particulate filter with 3M HVAC filters and a box fan. Lots of surface area, lots of air movement... and lots of noise.
I agree with everything here. My experience and research backs it all up, including the filament manufacturer being important. My tests (such that they are) show very little pm from my chosen manufacturer of TPU, PLA and PETG. I've no opinions on VOC as I've not been measuring it, but people who work in the field know that the sensors we use, and the way we interpret the data is woefully inaccurate at best.
@@ljadfthis is a super important conversation. I can’t believe that all PLA filaments are created equally and I’m sure that there are additives that are more toxic than others. I bought one of the air monitors on Amazon and while most of the PLA I was printing did not generate a worrisome amount of VOC, a specific color (red) of a specific manufacturer sent the value for formaldehyde up like craaaaaazy.
Yup, especially with all the "Plus", "Pro", "Silk" ... etc variants of filaments that are everywhere now with who knows what additives added to the mix, variability between different filament brands, types and colors can be pretty big. I tried to get a relatively broad range of manufacturers into my testing, but of course it's still only a super small sample of what's out there.
I have made pretty much the same sensor selection as you have. I have been running it since nearly two years. My printers are within my own 'cabinet' style enclosures , with negative pressure trough a fan and following activated carbon filter. My system records printing progress and temps on the same graph as all the air data. I can not detected any significant changes in air quality, unless I use hair spray on the build plate, or have the carbon filters removed.
All my printers are Vorons now and thus enclosed. And they all have exhausts with one hose each going out through a window. Negative pressure is the way to go. I wish I'd done this sooner but at least I only did PLA and PETG before. Once I started using ABS, I didn't even start printing until I had the exhaust system in place. I also gave up on resin printing due to how difficult it was to avoid stinking up the whole place.
PETG and PLA are pretty much safe to use on open bed printers, but you absolutely should never print ABS on anything but a properly enclosed and filtered printer
Great to see you’re focusing on making your printers safer, I think 3D printing emissions have not been taken serious enough for a while! Do you have any plans to integrate Nevermore filters into your setups? I’m currently using a Nevermore Max on my Voron 2.4, and while it effectively removes all the ABS smell, I’m curious about its overall effectiveness. Would love to see a follow up, which tests commercial and open source filters and chamber upgrade paths for existing printers.
I print mostly with ABS and ASA as I need their mechanical strength. I built a complete enclosure for the whole printer. The enclosure is fitted with an extractor fan that exhausts via a cross flow heat exchanger to outdoors. Clean air from outdoors comes in through the heat exchanger back to the enclosure. The heat exchanger helps to keep the enclosure temperature constant and prevents wasting energy in the winter. With this setup there is a negative pressure in the enclosure and no discernible odour in the workshop.
8:12 "Initially you'll see a big spike in particulates" Something you have to be aware of is that ABS is not chemically stable at printing temperatures, it survives about 20 minutes before it breaks down beyond use. So during preheating of the hotend, you're creating a lot of polymer fragments that are released when you push out your purge geometry (purgeline or skirt or whatever). It's not pyrolisis, since it's oxygen starved.
Really top notch stuff Tom. This is something that should be viewed before "top 5 beginner printers" I am moving my homemade purifier from next to my theater chair (close to air user) back into the print room (close to source). Also going to put a tight sweep on the door and create a small leak at the window. essentially making the print room positive pressure vented outdoors, and particulate filtered thru bog standard 12x24 merv13 filters. quality info on a topic affecting essentially anyone melting plastic Süßes Video
This is a fantastic video Tom thank you. I would love to see a follow up done with Nevermore filters! Furthermore, I would love to see the emissions of TPU!
I assume you have a bathroom? Move the printer there when in use and have the exhaust fan running with the door closed. (Or very slightly open if it seals well enough to impede the effectiveness of the fan.)
Glad you made this video. I've noticed that the higher printing temperature of PLA on my Prusa vs. my ender can be the difference between having an asthma attack and being fine. I had no idea how to test the VOCs n such.
The IKEA FÖRNUFTIG activated carbon filter is literally see-through. Some of the air passes right through it. A denser carbon filter would filter a lot better.
It is the same logic as applied to the surgical masks during covid. The holes are orders of magnitude larger than what they are catching but you will do fine.
The IKEA filter is primarily designed to be quiet so you can keep it running for hours without being too disturbing. A less dense filter require less air pressure to pass through and a less noisy fan, but with enough airflow it will still filter most of the particles after some time.
First off, thank you for creating content on this topic. Safety is an important aspect of many activities that often gets overlooked. If you are willing to continue down this path of investigation for us, it seems like a natural follow up could be a comparison of a standard material vs its modified derivative. VOC and particulate material comparisons between PLA and PLA+ or PLA-HS would be great to see, especially considering the added chemical modifiers are not advertised and these materials are typically printed at higher temperatures. Another valuable comparison could be ABS and Sunlu easy ABS which prints at a lower temperature. It's just a thought. Thanks again.
Interesting result! But what about the MERV-13 filters? There is some valuable information in Healthy Home Guide's video on HEPA filters. From what I understand, "DIY air purifiers with MERV-13 HVAC filters are better than HEPA". Even if HEPA can remove very fine particles, increasing the CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) will make a huge difference in a room. Moving a lot more air through a less efficient (and cheaper) filter is better than moving less air through an efficient HEPA filter. It would be interesting to see how the theory from this video apply in a 3D printing environment, for example testing DIY MERV filters against Amazon or Ikea HEPA you've shown. On the VOCs side, I'm also intrigued by the efficiency of the Nevermore Micro V6 filter. It claims that "it can process the chamber volume of a 250 Voron in just 30 seconds, and a larger 350 in approximately 2 minutes". I'd like to see if this is enough compared to the particles created when printing at high speed, high temperature, as well as the efficiency of the traditional carbon against the new Nevermore Scorch. The perfect setup from what I know would probably be a DIY large air filter in the room with a good CADR, with a carbon-activated (or alternative) small filter in an enclosed printer. The DIY large air filter can run even without printing, running slower and quieter, while the small noisier carbon-activated filter removes the VOCs during print and keep the warm air inside.
Thank you for testing this stuff, while your results aren't surprising, the fact that an off the shelf air purifier (with HEPA filter, granted) can make such a difference is definitely important information for everyone using a 3d printer.
Would be interesting to see the numbers for a resin printer. I'm guessing since most are done using UV light, it's more a VOC emission than a particulate.
As a resin printer. I made the mistake of leaving the IPA open to the air for months in the bathroom. 1 learnt that IPA evaporates 2 the VOC was permeating into the house and it DID cause sleep problems 3 my body didn’t feel good as I was breathing it in ambient air circulation After sealing it in a Tupperware enclosure, and relocating it to the basement, I had better sleep and woke up feeling better in the mornings
Unfortunately, there are no relatively affordable sensors that can even remotely accurately count or distinct particles between 10 and 1 um. There are research papers comparing them, and badically all of them are garbage to the level "something is there".
Interesting video! I print both FDM and resin. I have 3 Philips filters always running. They also have some (very basic) sensors and i see them sometime show bad air quality and increase speed. My experience is venting outside works best but they definatly help. Also dont forget about everything post printing and (some) resins still fuming well after the print. One thing to note tho. Pretty sure printing isnt good for you but the same can probably be said for cooking, cleaning (with chemicals) and painting. Some of those also really trigger the sensors in my purifiers.
15:17 haha No... A few years ago, I built an air filtration system (because the most 'beloved' minority in Hungary tends to burn rubber and all sorts of waste during the winter, creating constant smog even if their ghettos are 5-10 km away). It contains an H13 filter and 5 kg of activated carbon, specifically made from high-quality coconut shells. Although activated carbon is often touted as a miracle solution, it can hardly filter out anything; the smell of perfume, cooking odors, and the smog seeping in from outside all remain. I tried various types of carbon, but none were effective. Additionally, in this quantity, the carbon has a distinctive metallic smell, which also increases the VOC levels.
Thank you very much for the heads up on the Ikea filter... I went and got one today and it's a great addition. I use a Voron 2.4 with the clicky clack door and a Nevermore.. hardly any smell with ABS, but better filtration is better!
I would LOVE to see a blind study with creators, where these just run in their workspace without showing them data, and they take a standardized quiz to assess their mental well-being. I'm very interested to see how air quality correlates with creator burnout.
Been printing for years, and even though 90%+ of my prints are only in PLA, I have never been comfortable running a printer without an air filter close by, turned on. Thankfully I've never had any kind of itchy throat symptoms (at least none that couldn't be attributed to living with a few fur babies), but it's still always in my mind how these things might affect the air around me. I have a MK4 with an unbuilt enclosure right now, and I'm thinking even after I get the enclosure built I might save up for a separate carbon filter setup, with a big heavy carbon element connected to some 4" ducting. That said, I've also always been extra vigilant about air quality, since I come from a long line of bad breathers... Just happy to see more people bringing attention to this, and hoping even more people (and manufacturers) take it seriously!
Exactly what I have been looking for. Very nice explanation and interesting conclusions. I have learned a lot from this video. Thanks for sharing your amazing content.
As a medical doctor aware that nothing can take the place of prevention, I’ve done my best over the past few years to inform people of this threat with published research corroborating it, but virtually no one - certainly none of the big influencers - was interested. I think the problem is that acknowledging this problem creates another: what to do about it. The simplest solution is to not print in occupied buildings (instead printing in a shed, for example), to evacuate the air from the shed before entering, and to wear a highly effective mask (P100, e.g. with 3M’s 60923 filters) whenever inside. I came up with a solution enabling users to safely print inside but there appears to be no interest in that option.
@@8BitLife69 : Here’s a relevant excerpt from published research (Exposure to ambient air pollution and cognitive decline: Results of the prospective Three-City cohort study): “Exposure to PM2.5 was associated with accelerated cognitive decline in our cohort.” Countless other studies corroborate that and discuss many other adverse effects of particulate pollution. You can ignore reality, but you can’t change it.
I built a cabinet for my printers that has a fan taking fumes outside. When the door is open, the fan can be turned up to vent the entire room. Works very well. Highly recommend it if you can do it.
Ya know, it turns out that 3d printing isn’t good for you or the environment. I can’t believe that something entirely based around plastics could be bad??!?!?!!?!!!?
louder printers are more safe because they make you stay out of the room while it's running :D
CPAPCPAP！！！
😂
so the fans on my SV08 are actually a safety feature, not a design flaw......
Yes
@@Snottelling Probably more of a safety feature than the see thru "filter" they ship with the enclosure, lol.
The irony of a resin sponsor in a video about 3D printing fumes.
Resin will melt your brain. Breath it for too long 10+min and you'll start feeling drunk before passing out a bit later. So make sure it's VENTILATED where you are.
(My reference is regular epoxy resin, not the 3d stuff but should he similar)
Considering the chemical complexity of printing resin, they're probably even worse
@@_Xantras_ that's horrifying.
a gas mask is definitely a minimum requirement. Scary part is you don't even realize it's happening until it's starting to affect your mobility.
@@OutOfNameIdeas2 3D printing resin is much weaker than this. Ventilation is still strongly recommended though.
@@truereaper4572 How do you came to that conclusion?
As someone who’s exclusively printed with ASA for the last three years - it was nice knowing you all
I also print ASA 90% of the time - in my small studio apartment and have been doing so for 7+ years.
However I haven't seen any PM2.5 increase when running my printers and the sensor is very close to one of the printers.
@@Brainwash110 just in case, buy a good new sensor. They CAN go bad.
@@Brainwash110 Really???? How can you guys be in the same room as ASA is being printed? I have only two rolls and whenever I need to print ASA, I HAVE TO leave the room and ventilate it afterwards holding my breath to open a window because the smell is so intense I can't tolerate it at all. The one I have is from BambuLabs
😂😂😂
Dont worry. I printed for 5 years with abs in the bedroom I was in And I never noticed anything.
So funny enough, my lab at work spent $20,000 to get a professional company to do air quality assessments when our Bambu’s and Form 4 is running. Only did it with PLA. Nothing bad in the samples, though there were massive PM 2.5 spikes. Again, what was in the air was very low in concentration, well below any TWA average but didn’t pass indoor air quality; they checked for many many chemicals. So yes, lots of PM 2.5, but what that PM 2.5 was wasn’t of any significant concern. Don't know if this comment will get traction. I’ll see if we can show the results one day.
Wow, got a lot of traction. I'll UPDATE here:
Our setup is two X1C's, a Form 4, Wash L and Cure L, within vicinity of each other in a corner area of what was originally a warehouse so the ceiling is 40 feet above us. I expected the Wash L filled with IPA to be the main culprit for VOC's and it was. For PM2.5 it's a bit of a tough call as the area has soldering being done on and off and is generally dusty. The TWA for compounds was below all thresholds but PM2.5 being above IAQ could also be from the fact our facility is in an area where tons of 16-wheelers stop and go by during the day.
Personally I'm sure some still comes from the printing itself, but these might be PLA microparticles they just don't have a spectrum check for. Mind you, the 'spike' was pretty close to the IAQ limit which is why it passed TWA, but again, almost anything in the air will count as PM2.5.
What I am happy for is that we'll be designing a new area soon and first thing I added was extractor hoods for the zone which will be enclosed completely. I'll see if I'm allow to publish results (as these don't explicitly belong to me).
We used a 3rd party to analyze and I was there to monitor the contractor the entire time, no conspiracy here. We had samples go through spectroscopy to analyze pages worth of compounds.
what kind of bambu does your company have?
Wasn't of any significant concern by what standard?
I can’t be around PLA printing for more then a few minutes before I get very congested and it will last for at least a few days. Had to move my printer to the garage and installed large 10” carbon filters to remove whatever is in the air from it.
What do you mean by indoor air quality? What was the standard?
@@iggie8144 carbon filter will not remove particles only vapours
I think it's worth noting that most air purifiers that have activated carbon in their filters are meant to filter odours, not harmful pollutants. There's so little carbon in there, it almost feels like a joke.
Very true!
There is a lot of carbon in IKEA FÖRNUFTIG air purifier filter, but I still wouldn't trust it with isolating me from the resin printer fumes.
@@adameichler I think "a lot" would be one or two shoebox sized volumes of it, accompanied by a fan that has enough power to do aactually move air through those. The only home appliance I can think of that has this are very high end kitchen hoods.
@@markus30000 Yeah, it's not that big. The filter is conveniently +- shoebox sized, so you would need like 5 of those filters to achieve the thickness of a box. And its volume is not 100 % carbon, it's carbon pelets in a honeycomb structure.
@@adameichler I saw some reduction in VOCs with the Förnuftig carbon filter, but like most residential "air purifiers" it's better suited for keeping VOCs low in an already low-VOC environment like your living or bedroom.
I read an article a few years ago that you are exposed to dangerous levels of voc’s when you buy a new sofa with foam cushions and the memory foam mattresses can both of gas for weeks after installation. My printers are in a dedicated room where I don’t work while printers are running. Years ago photocopiers and laser printers had to be installed in a dedicated room with high ventilation due to toxic fumes. This is an issue that’s around us everyday and not just 3d printing.
that's why california puts that cancer risk warning label on seemingly everything.
One youtuber did some tests on his print room too... He kept getting spikes when he increased ventilation.
He concluded that being neighbour to 3 construction sites made the outside air much worse than his printer Room
laser printers and copiers are source of ozone which in higher concentrations is harmful
@@greystorm9974 This is both hilarious and terrifying.
I have Philips air purifiers with basic sensors. Leaving the room open for a while also shows reduced air quality@@greystorm9974
I got bladder cancer and the first question the doctors asked me is "do you work with industrial chemicals?" - seems that exposure to toxic chemicals is the number one reason for bladder cancer. I don't work with toxic chemicals but did spend a lot of time printing various plastics I spend almost no time in the presence of a print in progress now.
How much do you print at all? I mean most of us have only been printing for 10 years; and most of us only once every few weeks, not comparable with occupational amounts of exposure, which is 40 hours a week for 40 years. Besides many of us might have other hobbies with ignored chemical hazards, such as related to paints, solvents, plastics or wood composite airborne particulate, epoxy resins and so on. Usually one thing leads to another before we got our 3D printer, and that path is rarely healthy.
@@SianaGearz I've been printing since 2011, in the early days it was almost exclusive ABS. I spent way too much time watching prints at close range in a small shed (back then prints would often fail). I agree you cannot be safe blaming one thing, I used to smoke as well. I just found it surprising that the doctors seemed to think that that type of cancer is almost always due to toxicity in industry.
@@hexitexcan confirm, I worked in quality control for a company producing spray paint and varnishes, mainly for industrial and automotive applications, most if not all products contained known or at least potential carninogens.
Within two years working there I've got to know more people suffering and dying from cancer than anywhere else I've ever been...
@@hexitex But the good thing about a shed instead of your home is that you can ventilate it and while in your bedroom you are far away from it. I watch my prints go down with camera's with zoom-functionality to avoid problems with my astma too for example.
Sometimes I have had a 3D-printer in the living-room and only with PLA and that already got me having much more problems with that.
I really hope not to catch cancer from all the things I have been breathing in though...... but much of my problems come from outside for example the neighbours that are burning not clean wood (or sometimes clean), giving a plasticy smell inside my house too and sometimes make my smoke-detectors go off when I have the windows open.
My airfilters in the house work a lot and catch a lot of black dust in wintertime...
might explain why my lung is full of tumor
Bought my first home 3D printer in 2014. Ran mostly ABS for 3 years in an enclosed, heated system. Some of the First things I printed were parts to mount a Noctua fan with high static pressure on top of the enclosure to pull the fumes out of the enclosure, through some 4" ducting to a custom installed window frame that mounted an air conditioner and had a clear polycarbonate panel with a through passage to the outside that the ducting would flow through, evacuating the fumes and particulates from the room the printer was in. Had an activated charcoal and dust filter on the outside to mitigate the impact on the environment.
I also flipped the power supply over to pull fresh air through it instead of from the chamber and into my room, and got some free chamber heating in the process!
Had variable speed control on the fan to help regulate the chamber temps depending on bed temp.
No smell, no headaches, no nasty fumes or materials going into my lungs! 👍
Mike in San Diego. 🌞🎸🚀🖖
Former R&D Engineer with 30 years of experience.
I did exact set up, ac unit and all but for a grow tent, worked exceptionally well. Maintenance Mechanic 10 years 😶🌫
I'm in NYC and have been considering this type of solution.
I want a window shroud with ventilation hole that I can plug exhaust hose into.
Then I just need to alter my printer to have negative pressure and exhaust fumes to the ventilation hose.
I'd like to make it general purpose for also exhausting solder fumes and heat.
@@sleeplessdev7204 you can add a HEPA and pre-charcoal filter by just finding filter replacements for air purifiers and putting them in line. Your neighbor with an open window probably wont even have a plan to find you alone in a dark alley if you filter that air before belching it out of your place and into their window ;)
@@LackofFaithify Actually my window opens right at sidewalk level. Perfect opportunity to give those morning walkers a face full of VOC's 😁
But of course I'll add some inline filters... it would be too easy to identify me if I didn't 😏
It's great to see someone finally talk seriously about the elephant in the room. The numbers presented may not be accurate enough to know exactly what's going on. This video is however significantly better than Joel stuffing his head into the enclosure during an ABS print, taking a big whiff, and saying "Dis not so good."
hahaha, way better.
I think it was Scotty of Strange Parts, when reviewing the Micronics SLS, who said you would need a separate room to use this printer, especially when doing the sifting. I appreciate Thomas's efforts here, and I hope there are more discussions and tips on how to make our workshops safer.
Tiny (2µm) elephants in the room... 😁
I thought that waste plastic was 3D printing's "elephant in the room". Maybe there is more than one of them in here :)
@@ViscountCharles At least we have plastic recyclers to answer that question, like recyklinfabrik for example
Geez. He’s not just making this stuff up
He’s “pulling numbers out of thin air” 😂
Haha
I print only with PLA but even then it worries me what some companies put into it. Their own undisclosed 11 herbs and spices. 'Prints nicer now' sure, sure... but why...? They don't give out that info so how can I know it doesn't give me extra chance of cancer as well. There are so many kinds of PLA now, +, high speed and some other mumbo jumbo.
Yes this is a huge problem that will probably never be addressed, unfortunately.
Well guys it's a lot of common sense too.
Vent things outdoors, give good fresh air. Avoid printing in living areas.
We all know enough about asbestos, silica, sawdust or even how gas range cooktops create pollutants.
There's no reason for us to be complacent with this due to a lack of data.
Save your helpa filters for regular indoor living spaces.
@@ShivaTD420 I'd rather not print outdoors. Also we are dealing with plastics and other micro particles that we don't even know what they are... comparing it to asbestos is quite frankly idiotic... I guess being blissfully unaware is one attitude one might use.
Also please, it today's day and age most of us can't afford a separate room dedicated to printing stuff or hobbies. At this point bare minimum is a dream for a lot of people.
If the stuff they add is safe then there's no reason why we shouldn't fight for it to be disclosed to us. More knowledge is always better.
@@ares395 didn't say put it outside I said ventilation to outside.
If a vent hood can suck out toxic gasses from a lab experiment.
Then these printers should be far easier.
Treat them similar to a laser cutter/engraver.
Where there is negative pressure so nothing can leak out. Maintain this negative pressure by having more exhaust cfm.
Filtration of industrial process puts you into filters that are 600-1000 that need 600$ fans to move their air through them to reach their protection ratings. These filters only last a year and do nothing for voc.
H😮😮😮z 2s 6:50
Please note that: most of the hepa filters that you are purchasing from amazon/aliexp are not hepa.
Yep, if you're going into safety there's way more to consider then you may expect. Like using gloves, you need the correct type but also a way of working with them. In the lab I was working we sometimes didn't use them to avoid touching the entire room "because gloves are safe right". Etc. :)
@@VincentGroenewoldyou are definitely right. I just wanted to state my thoughts against the cheap hepa filter hype.
Safety is mostly an illusion… if you start pulling this thread you might end up actually slightly safer but feeling 💯less safe with a dash of paranoia 😵💫.
@@MakerBees333 No offence but what facts are You basing Your opinion on ??
Because to me Your comment just looks like a misdirected attempt at being """edgy"""
It makes me curious, would You for instance tear out asbestos isolation or work in a spraypaint booth totaly without ppe? If not then why ?
Best regards
They are not always HEPA, but that doesn't mean you cannot get HEPA filters on Amazon or AliExpress...
Interesting! When I first started printing I noticed I always had a sore throat whenever my printer was running, even printing PLA & PETG. Ever since, I've always built enclosures and vented it out.
This micro-plastic exposure will undoubtedly have long term effects, we just don't have the data yet.
Microplastics have been around since the early 1960s. We need better science, not the hyperbolic junk science just designed to alarm people. BPA was a good example of false toxicology.
100% just wait until folks have built up enough PLA/ABS/PETG nanoparticles in their lungs and bloodstream for there to be a study, it just hasn't happened YET. Eventually we'll have something called "3d lung" and I am pretty sure all those nano particles are probably going to affect our endocrine system and we're already seeing plastic building up in the brain as they can already pass through the blood brain barrier.
I started with PLA and had constant runny nose and scratchy throat. I switched to PETG and it stopped.
I print exclusively with PC and the fumes are nasty. Tom is right about the silicone heaters likewise emit far more dangerous fumes at higher temps. Great post Tom! This episode is a throwback to the good old days when you started - packed with valuable information everyone can use! Thank you.
Very surprised there was no mention of the Nevermore filter project! It's an open-source recirculating filter with a few configurations. They're mainly intended for Vorons but can be installed in/on any printer.
I have a Nevermore StealthMax and it holds about 1lb of activated carbon pellets. It has VOC sensors in the intake and exhaust to verify the filter is working as it should. You want to really seal up your printer well because it is a recirculating filter. The more times the air passes through, the cleaner it will be. Plus, you don't want unfiltered air leaking out. It's very effective and I really appreciate the effort the contributors have put into it.
Hi, i am building two StealthMax filters for my Vorons 2.4 and Trident. I also want to include the VOC UV Filter. Do you have tried out the UV Filter addon ? Does it really work ?
the nevermore is just way too small to be an effective solution. if anything, it gives you a false sense of safety. extraction is what you want if you dont want to have a filter the size of the printer.
@@drkastenbrot The sensors prove it works as expected and the carbon lasts me ~350 printing hours before the intake/exhaust VOC delta gets too small. Like I said, the StealthMax [S] versions hold quite a lot of carbon, and with a well-sealed enclosure I don't see why this wouldn't be a perfectly fine solution.
@@MarioTheModder That's not a lot of carbon and I doubt the sensor proves anything. What sensor do they use? Because all consumer ones will give you only relative values and lots of them autocalibrate in a short period, a sensor sitting permantently in the contaminated environment will take it as the baseline
@@PrimalShutter They use two SGP40s, one on intake and one on exhaust. Calibration is disabled during printing. Relative measurements are all you need, you just need to know that the air is getting cleaner as it goes through the filter. If the printer is sealed, nothing is getting out anyway.
You should look into the project, they've done a lot of research and detailed write-ups of these topics.
In your experience, how much carbon is enough?
Thanks for reporting on this health issue, the community needs more awareness. 7 years ago I was printing some ABS and stunk up the house, my gf freaked out and forbid me from printing anymore. I did my homework, and learned that pretty much all filaments emit VOCs, so I agreed and stopped the hobby altogether. But I really wanted to print again, and 3 years later I came up with a proper solution. I got a Printed Solid enclosure for my Prusa, installed a couple 60mm Noctua fans, attached a couple 2" diameter duct hoses, and ran them out a nearby window through an MDF gap filler panel. It worked better than I expected, you can't smell a thing with ABS, and exhaust ventilation is sufficient for printing PLA with the enclosure closed (enclosure temp rise is only around +5C). Last year, I got a Prusa XL and immediately made a custom enclosure. I designed it to fully control airflow, with intakes in the front bottom, and 4x 80mm Noctua fans that exhaust out two 3" duct hoses, again through the same window panel. It works great, enclosure temp rise with PLA is only about +6C, so I can print all filaments with the enclosure fully closed.
My XL enclosure looks similar to the SUMO, but the SUMO doesn't actually control airflow. I don't like Prusa's XL enclosure either, but I can't really say if it's properly designed for controlling airflow. Essentially, both of my enclosures are negative pressure cases, sucking in fresh air near the bottom, and exhausting out the fan ports.
I'm not a fan of the filter approach. These devices and consumables are expensive and less than 100% effective. And don't forget that pretty much all enclosures require you to open them up for PLA, so no filtering at all. PLA will give me a headache after a few hours, so this is unacceptable to me. Exhausting out the window is essentially free, 100% effective, and works for all filaments.
Totally agree with you that some enclosure or air pollution management system is a must in 3D printing , and that it really doesn't have the attention it deserves, just as a precaution measure before we know more about their effects. However I would personnally still be quite uncomfortable simply exhausting it out, because it's just displacing the problem, not a long term solution. On the one hand, even though hepa filters are usually "only" around 99 % effective, you can get a nearly identical result as a hypothetical 100% filter would yield just by recylculating the same air enough times through the filter. One could imagine a 3D printer with an airtight enclosure, and an air filtering system composed of some of those semi-flexible aluminium pipes + fan + filter. If you just choose a duct fan that has a big enough volumetric flow it could generate enough air flow inside the enclosure that it would probably also help cool down those PLA layers even with the higher temperatures that that an enclosed printer involves. And I guess that those aluminium pipes, routed outside of the printer would also act as an air heat exchanger. But obviously, it will need to be tested. On the other hand, it would be interesting to know how well are those used hepa filters managed as a waste to find out whether this step doesn't release those filtered particles again somehow in nature.
Venting outdoors is an incredibly effective solution - even Prusa's print farm just has a simple negative pressure, constant-flow setup that simply doesn't let emissions escape from the printer bays. In colder, hotter, or more humid temperatures, that might however cause some issues with unconditioned air being sucked back into the house in other spots - for me, I'll be be rearranging my ERV ventilation unit to add and remove air more precisely where it's needed (i.e. hooking it up directly to printer enclosures)
@@MadeWithLayers You're right, all exhausted air is replenished by air leaking back into the house from other spots. And if Noctua's rated max CFM specs were realized (total of 140CFM), then my entire home would be fully ventilated in under 5 hours. I'm in hot and humid Atlanta, so these stats give pause for concern. But these fans have low static pressure, so in reality they're pulling quite a bit less than 5 CFM total, due to various air restrictions (ribbed ducting, insect blocking mesh, undersized air ports, and the general 'tightness' of our home's weathersealing providing backpressure).
Take a deep breath, open your mouth wide, and expel your breath slowly onto the back of your hand, such that you can barely even feel it (done right, it should take you 10+ seconds to expel). What you're feeling there is approximately the air intake speed of one of my XL enclosure intake ports. An adult male's lung capacity is approximately 6 liters, or 0.21 cubic feet. So this equates to about 1 CFM. Since I have 2 air intakes on my XL enclosure, let's double this and estimate that I have around 2 CFM of airflow through my enclosure.
This low air speed is desirable, because one of the main benefits of an enclosure is blocking drafts that might affect print quality and bed adhesion. It would be silly to have so much ventilation airflow to create harmful drafts. I've gone through various fans and ducting solutions to arrive at what I consider a desirable exhaust rate, a barely perceptible gentle breeze, not even strong enough to hold a tissue to the air intake. Any less and the enclosure overheats for PLA, so I've tuned it to be just enough.
Looked at another way, the estimated enclosure exhaust flow (both enclosures combined) in 24 hours is roughly equivalent to a quality bathroom fan running for 15-30 minutes. Yes, there's an impact, but no it's not really noteworthy. If I had a print farm then I might feel otherwise, but for just 2 printers I'm quite happy with this setup.
Exhausting outdoors isn't free, for most people heating/cooling your home is by far one of your biggest expenses, so depending how you go about this, you're comparing a ~$100 year cost on filters vs upwards of $1000+ a year on additional heating/cooling, also nothing is "100% effective" unless you have your printer in some sort of airtight container you'll always get some leakage or air floating off in an undesired direction, so basically if this is a big concern for you, put the printer away from indoor spaces such as a garage or shed, only then can you remotely call it free but still filters are cheap and last a long time, you're really not saving much if any money with any solution that isn't as simple as move the printer.
Thanks for briging this up, I had the same reaction with ABS and wouldnt print it because of it, then finally caved in with a janky ventilation setup after some time away from printing. It was ok but still a little smelly overall. A proper enclosure with ducts and fans is a great idea.
Thanks for helping to keep this community safely printing for decades to come.
Thanks for the tip! Let's hope awareness will actually get people to make smarter decisions.
Now the next logical step will be to test effectiveness of diy 3d-printer related filters: nevermore, rebreather, etc.
Please consider doing a follow-up on this with other filaments for TPU, PC, Nylon, CF infused filaments (Or could CF pose the risk of damaging of causing permanent offsets to the air sensors, since they are conductive?)
I agree, could be even more interesting.
I want to echo the concern about carbon fiber. There's no reason to believe printing with it is any less hazardous than asbestos. Or it might be fine! We just don't know because there hasn't been much research and there hasn't been enough time for people to start getting weird cancers.
Carbon fiber filament is bad for the same reason why asbestos is bad, you should probably stay away from it.
I’m not sure the dust being conductive would affect the particle sensors at least, but maybe I’m misunderstanding.
If you look into how they measure particles in the air, they’re actually optical! They have little chambers/mazes inside with a laser beam bouncing throughout, and the scattering on the other side determines how how many and what size particles are present. It’s super interesting, seems like magic, recommend looking into it. But conductivity shouldn’t matter at least for the pm2.5 sensors :)
@@fwiffo Probably not as bad as asbestos, which I think can continue to split/break down in your body. It's probably more comparable to fiberglass, which is also very scary, just not quite as much.
can i just say that you have been a force in my life man, more useful than most educators in the traditional sense. you have been the modern bill nye the science guy of the 3d printing and manufacturing world for me. please keep up the amazing work and wonderful clear and thorough videos!
Thank you for the video!really interesting. Among the 3D printing RUclipsrs I follow, you are the first who asked himself what are we breathing while printing (and you have done a pretty good research and testing as well). Safety first!
Actually there are a bunch of them. Those rummors have been talked about earlier in All3Dprint, Nathan Builds Robots, The next Layer, 3D print professor (5 years ago!), Lost in tech...this subject is raising concern more and more.
@@alainthire good to know..thanks
Excellent video. I'm glad to see folks like yourself and Nathan Builds Robots raising awareness of 3d print safety
I am very glad you posted this video, many people think if they don't smell it, it is not there, and therefore not harmful. Thanks for smashing that myth.
I would be thrilled to see a follow up with testing for PLA+ and PLA Super Tough, as well as testing how effective those soft-sided zippered enclosures you can get on Amazon are.
One thing to note is that whilst (activated) carbon filters can be used to filter VOCs, they don't magically filter them in an instant - you actually need to cycle the air through them multiple times to cut down the VOCs. You will need either run a filter for a longer period of time (increase the number of filtration cycles), or have multiple filters in-line, or both.
That puny little filter that comes in some 3D printers isn't going to make too much of a dent unless the printer is engineered to recycle the air through the filter for extended periods of time before venting to the room.
Aside to that, VOCs are also found in adhesives/ chemicals used in treating wood products (plywood, OSB, MDF etc. and the glues for the laminates/ veneers) - some suppliers/ manufacturers use more modern adhesives that have minimal VOCs but you really wouldn't know.
This has become much more of an issue (locally here in Singapore) in the recent years as cheaper materials sourced from China tend to have a large amount of VOCs like formaldehyde. Vinyl flooring is also another culprit as well. There are suppliers of such materials and adhesives that are low VOC but the prices are substantially higher.
It's been an issue that's gaining sufficient awareness that there are even documentaries and news reports made on such matters.
Testing like this is so important to the community! Thank you for digging into the details and helping us make more informative safe decissions! I'd love to see more on this kind of stuff down the road! Thanks again ❤!
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks very much for this report and video. A few weeks ago I downplayed it when my partner said she had an allergic reaction after I had been making some long prints in my office / studio. The printer (a K1C) is mostly enclosed, but I often ran it with the top cover off and door open. After watching this, I told her she was probably right. Several weeks ago, I began the build of an enclosed chamber to sit on top of the K1C case so I can feed filament from above the print head. I'm glad I did, and now I will never use the printer with anything open. The back fan vents to the outside through a window and a long clothes drier vent hose. Hopefully this will keep the enclosure at negative pressure and force all the nasty stuff outside.
Venting directly outside is the way to go. It vastly increases the spousal approval factor.
Do a resin version of these tests too. We know it's bad, but some people don't understand how bad it really is.
Testing protocol will be a problem here because these are almost hermetically enclosed (except the new tilting hood ones). There are been tests showing the emission mostly occurs during printing where you're not supposed to be in contact with the air enclosed in. The main concern is the post treatment part when you open the lid and use solvents to wash the print and cure it.
Everyone I've ever seen using a resin printer has it vent directly outside. The risks of resin are well understood, it's filament printers that really need the close examination.
@@kaijuultimax9407 Really? Almost every post/video i see someone using it, is the opposite. Barefood watchting to the printer, while printer is sitting on the ground and picking up the uncured print with bare hands. No Respirator wearing ofc (The most common thing being not used) and then everything without any fume extraction. Maybe at least those USB Filters inside that almost do nothing. And that even from known RUclipsrs like UncleJessy that is often wearing no gloves and respirator while holding the uncured print on the plate into the camera. It's insane. I could just even pick up many of those examples from my browser history of this and last weeks.
Thank you for doing the research and setting up a test rig. I'd be really interested to compare your results with: being in a room with a burning candle, sitting in traffic, air in a pub / restaurant, air in a city vs the country. Whilst the numbers are concerning compared to the WHO, the micromort risk vs other daily activities is probably what I should be evaluating. I would be surprised if printing ABS is worse than sitting in a bath surrounded by candles.
Newer houses are MUCH more airtight than older houses which makes this a bigger concern if you happen to live in a newer house. But they tend to have heat recovery ventilators for the entire house which you could crank up.
Pretty much all new houses will have forced ventilation. I go beyond 8 air changes per hour in the room with my 3D printers if I crank up the MVHR system way up and optimize the air flow. For reference you'll get about 1 in a normal old house and 2 in a drafty old house. Normally you'll be at least at 0.5 changes per hour in a new house with a heat recovery ventilation system.
That was awesome information and really good work, Tom! Thanks for still being here doing it right!
…and note, this topic is also supposed to be very important for inkjet printers, which people are often exposed to for days (years) throughout their lives…
Yes, for sure! I had big headaches and rashes at work when they ran.
Yeah Printers are actually pretty bad...
Yeah, but that's mostly due to the evaporation from the suspension solvents (alcohol vapour)
formaldehyde is coming out of your wooden furniture. especially new ones. adhesives, lacquers, coatings, etc.
Yep vocs are all over. The new car smell is actually not good to breathe in
Not true, modern coatings in that industry are now minimal VOC and water based. Even auto paint is now water based.
@@truantray Even minimal VOC products can output a lot in badly vented areas. They're just not nearly as bad as they were in the past
@@kendokaaa Plus he's forgetting about the wood material in itself. The glues and resins that stick MDF, OSB or plywood together as a material being the main culprits here.
If you look at professional air extraction and filter systems for soldering, welding or laser cutting, you start to get an idea of what a good filter cost, how big and heavy they need to be to be somewhat effective at removing air pollution. The little "activated carbon" filters might be handy, but they only capture a very small amount and need to be replaced often to have any effect at all.
Would have been interesting to see if you can actually measure how fast the filters degrade over time. Maybe you will pick that data up over time if you keep your data collectors running and track the runtime of the filters?
Oh finally, glad that you are covering this important topic! Interesting to see what Prusa is doing, with the recent safety certificate that tests their own Prusament used on their own printers.
Id love to see a diy video about building that air quality sensor! I've wanted to make one of those for myself! Especially now that we have this video to compare and reference to! Absolutely love the video, thank you!
Software and stls for the sensorbox www.printables.com/model/993949-3d-printer-emissions-sensor-array
The white powder from petg needs to be looked at and figure out what it is, as it might be antimony trioxide.
Most petg resins contain small amounts of antimony oxide as it's the most common catalyst used for petg polymerization and it's a white powder.
What little bit of research I can find about antimony oxide in petg suggests that it does come out of the plastic during reprocessing, ie melting like 3d printing. Antimony trioxide is toxic and a suspected of causing cancer.
I made a VOC monitor with a Sensiron SGP41, and while a Dyson in the area doesn't tick up for VOCs, the Sensiron goes through the roof having defrosted a piece of sourdough bread and toasted it without burning. I think this is from the release of aldehydes, which the SGP is sensitive to, and potentially Formaldehyde. This is for a relatively short time compared to printing of course, and can be mitigated to some extent by opening windows and setting the extractor going, but had me questioning whether I should stop toasting bread. Clothing tends to be a source of VOCs too due to washing, and we're potentially in a mini VOC fog if we're not moving around. I started getting purifiers, which are definitely effective for particles, but not so much for VOCs as Thomas found. I've a massive carbon filter with 6" air ducting in my resin printer tent, and that does seem to work well for that. With thankfully not too bad air outside where I am in the UK apart from NOx and PM reads sometimes, opening a window is effective at reducing the VOCs coupled with the purifier. We also breath out VOCs, sometimes large amounts, and so if sitting close to a sensor, that can skew readings.
Excellent video, with multiple sensors used! Been playing with most of these sensors, and you need more varieties to get good picture, as they all measure slighly different type of stuff. Glad to see you used a bunch to get a good picture!
Having a background in biology and chemistry, I always felt a bit baffled that people run 3d printers in open air in their homes. I decided to build an enclosure box I could keep at lower pressure than my home (vents outside) before doing any printing. I kind of assumed it was a requirement to run these machines healthily. Glad to know I'm not alone in my concerns.
I too find it absolutely nuts that people are happily running open deck printers inside their living space whilst playing with their kids meters away. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that exposure to fumes from 3d printing is harmful. I set mine in my workshop inside a repurposed old commercial open deck refrigerator that has been essentially converted into a fume cabinet venting externally. Not in my wildest dreams would I run it inside the house where my toddler lives.
And people should be very afraid when printing with filament so dodgy that the manufacturers will not provide an MSDS.
Having a background in engineering. I put my printers in a closet that is basically a large fume Hood with a reasonably powered 3/4 horsepower extraction fan. Keep the sound down and the smells from percolating into the house...
Thanks for doing this testing Tom! I definitely have plans to outfit my enclosure with some filtration and this information is even more motivating.
Thanks, it matches my thoughts, hopes and measurements with the Ikea tVOC/pm2.5 sensor (VINDSTYRKA). I have no way to test the sensor for accuracy but noticed the drop in tVOC when turning on the Fornuftig. Also measured the impact of a Nevermore Micro in the enclosure and that also kept tVOC under control.
BTW there is an easy way to put and ESP into the Fornuftig and have it controlled by domotica (for example ESPHome/Home Assistant). The Fornuftig will just turn on when any printer isn't idle or when the pm2.5 or tVOC values are above some set value.
As someone with a similar system (vindriktning with an esp8266 hacked into it for pm2.5 sensing), I recommend just turning the dial on it to max airflow and plugging it into a smartplug. I have home assistant turn on my corsi-rosenthal box when pm2.5 exceeds federally safe levels and it's significantly helped air quality in my awfully ventilated apartment (gets really bad during cooking).
This video is extremely helpful and important!
We should raise more awareness to harmful influence of various 3D printing filaments and resins.
I think those build up over the years and maybe one day we will have to deal with the consequences.
We do this hobby because we want to create cool things not to destroy our health
Environmental air quality is something that once you learn about it, you feel a bit of a hypochondriac. But in reality, I think it's just the standards for all this stuff are really low, or just not well known.
I got my first printer in 2021 and in a month i built an almost sealed enclosure with a large tube running outside and a 3000 rpm 140mm fan pulling air out, this created a negative pressure that was drawing fresh air into the enclosure and "dirty smelly" air out. Glad to see this has been a good decision, i did it mostly to guarantee control over the printing environment and to avoid the strong smell, it worked great in reducing noise and power consumption while printing. While printing abs for example i limit the amount of air i let into the chamber, making it get to 50c this means that the heated bed is working a lot less to keep the high temperature.
I always put my printer in the bathroom for printing.
Windows open, door closed. And when I need to go in while printing, I hold my breath.
Also helps to have the exhaust fan running.
I would argue that an enclosure can actually help preventing the fumes from entering the room when you properly seal it. I use a 60 cm server closet with dampening mats and gaskets for the doors so there is very little exchange between room and enclosure. Inside of it I use a small bento box filter that circulates the air and runs even after a print is finished. Additionally I use a room filter with active carbon and hepa 12. Medion has some cheap options with affordable replacement filters.
I run all my printers in a seperate room, and unless its PLA im printing I really dont like spending more than a few minutes in there. The room being absolutly tiny isnt helping of course
Thank you!! This is the kind of data I really want to see. If you did one of these with resin printers I would be extremely grateful
Could you please make a tutorial on building/configuring/programming of your environment sensors station? Much appreciated.
Software and stls for the sensorbox www.printables.com/model/993949-3d-printer-emissions-sensor-array
This is really great work Tom, and shocking that there's less of this information presented from manufacturers. I would love to see a similar quantitative study for the resin printers.
I don't get why companies don't take this seriously and don't do proper research? Maybe reason is that they will loose profit but at what cost? People printing stuff in bedrooms without proper warning from producers about their tech. Sure it is your own responsibility to protect own health but that should be introduced at manual level for machines and filaments as mandatory.
There is no incentive for a company to spend money to answer a question that at best does nothing and at worst turns people away from their product
Obviously because they don't want to be held accountable.
By not testing for it proactively, it's much easier to get away with a "we didn't know"
Nothing about this will likely change until EU will pass some regulation that forces companies to test this stuff.
Because if a warning label loses even one sale then investors will consider a bad move
When I got a printer 3 years ago I was paranoid about the smell so I built an enclosure with an exhaust vent. That way I could exhaust any particles outside once a print was finished. I'd leave it on while retrieving the print so disturbed particles would be less inclined to leave through the door.
My printers next to my bed haha. Might as well start smoking if im getting cancer anyway
This is a good start in the conversation about fumes but I’d love to see more. For example, I’d love to learn more about the ingredients in PLA filaments, the additives added by manufacturing companies, whether cheap PLA is more toxic than more expensive PLA, etc.
Thank you very much for those important informations!
Maybe I didn´t got it from the video. In the end (around 14:20 ) you stated that one option could be adding a filter into the housing of the printer and generating a negativ environment. Did you "only" do the test with the ikea filter or do you have some data with just the prusa enclosure+ activated filter?
I only tested with the dedicated Ikea filter, but I would assume that the HEPA part of the Prusa air filter would be highly effective at capturing and removing the particles emitted while printing. For the activated carbon part, I'm not sure about how much that's actually going to do.
@@MadeWithLayers Thank you very much for your quick reply! I’m currently on my way to integrate some sensors to Home-Assistant, to take some measurements and protocol them myself. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you for making this video. People OFTEN overlook how dangerous these compounds are/can be.
Good video. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but it feels slightly weird to cover this topic without mentioning Nathan Builds Robots who has been covering these issues recently. I guess it's just more in the zeitgeist now. Some things I would have liked to see covered in more detail: activated carbon gets used up, and unlike indicating silica beads you can't tell when it's "full". So-called "HEPA" filters on Amazon and especially AliExpress are a minefield of fake and uncertified products, similar to N95 masks during the pandemic. Would have liked to see a comparison with venting outdoors, different sizes of HEPA filters. NBR went into a bit more detail about which particles are the most harmful which I found useful. Also there was a pretty big gap between your sensors which makes me wonder how accurate the data was. But overall I thought the coverage was quite good.
Thanks for finally speaking about this, this has been one of the reasons I personally don't want a printer in my flat and when warning/ informing others about this problem, I usually am not being taken serious at all...
I am sure I developed asthma soon after I started 3d printing at home and was very sensitive the the smell of PLA some more than others. I eventually purchased a VAX AP03 and run it while printing and it was a big improvement until I could setup in a workshop with all the printers in sectioned off area with fans pulling air outside. It has taken far too long for someone to look into this so thank you.
I have been seeing video's about this at least for over 5 years. This is far from the first video on youtube for example. If you search, you will find much more details then in this short video.
I'm a chemist so maybe my Air holes are destroyed but I've never noticed anything with PETG, I've had one problem with PLA and that was with creality filament, it gave me a headache once.
@@AndrasBuzas1908 Prusament Galaxy black used to give me the worst headaches and Protopasta smell was stuck in my nose for a few days. I have had polyps removed and have almost no sense of smell, but for some reason I can smell filament.
@@elvinhaak Perhaps I should have said from the bigger 3dprinting youtubers. Can you remember any that are worth watching ?
@@leesmithsworkshop I did some searching and then got some suggestions in a row. Probably also some German ones since that is 3rd language to me (Dutch - English - German - Czech - French are the order in which I understand languages, English and German mostly on youtbe).
Excellent video, Thomas! Thanks for caring about the printing community!
This is why I put the printer in the garage. I think it's fair to assume that the emissions do NOT improve your health.
That is sensible and very underrated comment.
Good to see that your PLA readings are the same as mine, I was begining to think my sensor was broken because the readings were so low.
I moved all my printers into a 4' x 8' Vivosun grow tent and made an exhaust system to port it out through the sliding glass door. Highly recommended and cheaper than expected.
Cheaper.. except for the broken down door when the cops raid your place for suspicion of being an actual grow house?
I have the same setup. A 150x150x200cm grow tent in my balcony with a 150mm ductfan venting everything out
thank you very much for in-depth analysis and efforts. I really liked the video. 👍
I just got into this new hobby of 3-D printing for the first week. I kept the printer in my bedroom, but then I felt uncomfortable due to the noises and the fear of inhaling the fumes so I moved it to the storage room and it has a huge window. So whenever I print something, I just open the window and let the air circulate itself.
Also, I have a DIY HEPA air purifier. I just bought the filter for the Xiaomi air purifier and slapped industrial EBM PAPST fan on it, and I’m good to go.👍
Even printing with PLA, made me feel dizzy and nauseous.
So I build an cabinet from two IKEA tables and put my printer inside, then installed an air vent from the cabinet towards my attic one floor above my room. A 3000 RPM desktop pc fan is used for airflow, fan RPM is pwm controlled based on the nozzels temperature I read from my printers API.
My nauseous feeling is completely gone now, as wel are all mice that used to live on my attic...
When I put my hobby room together I installed extractor vents and a large fume cupboard to work in with the thought of getting anything out of the room regardless of what I knew about it. You can never be too safe if you don't know what you are doing.
The VOC emissions from PETG are a little surprising considering the squeaky-clean performance from earlier studies, but it is important to remember that there are literally hundreds of different formulations under each polymer type. Filament makers generally aim for consistent _performance_ across a polymer type with all the pigments they're using, rather than consistent emissions. Plus without something like a spectrometer, it's impossible to determine whether the VOC emitted is super toxic at X parts per trillion (e.g. dioxins) or toxic if you swim in it while drinking it (e.g. ethanol, acetone). IMHO the best way to deal with VOC emissions is to simply vent the air outside.
You can make a pretty good particulate filter with 3M HVAC filters and a box fan. Lots of surface area, lots of air movement... and lots of noise.
I agree with everything here. My experience and research backs it all up, including the filament manufacturer being important. My tests (such that they are) show very little pm from my chosen manufacturer of TPU, PLA and PETG. I've no opinions on VOC as I've not been measuring it, but people who work in the field know that the sensors we use, and the way we interpret the data is woefully inaccurate at best.
@@ljadfthis is a super important conversation. I can’t believe that all PLA filaments are created equally and I’m sure that there are additives that are more toxic than others. I bought one of the air monitors on Amazon and while most of the PLA I was printing did not generate a worrisome amount of VOC, a specific color (red) of a specific manufacturer sent the value for formaldehyde up like craaaaaazy.
Yup, especially with all the "Plus", "Pro", "Silk" ... etc variants of filaments that are everywhere now with who knows what additives added to the mix, variability between different filament brands, types and colors can be pretty big. I tried to get a relatively broad range of manufacturers into my testing, but of course it's still only a super small sample of what's out there.
@@MadeWithLayers did you test esun pla+?
Do a web search for "fake petg". A large portion of filament sold as "petg", isn't.
I have made pretty much the same sensor selection as you have. I have been running it since nearly two years. My printers are within my own 'cabinet' style enclosures , with negative pressure trough a fan and following activated carbon filter.
My system records printing progress and temps on the same graph as all the air data. I can not detected any significant changes in air quality, unless I use hair spray on the build plate, or have the carbon filters removed.
All my printers are Vorons now and thus enclosed. And they all have exhausts with one hose each going out through a window. Negative pressure is the way to go. I wish I'd done this sooner but at least I only did PLA and PETG before. Once I started using ABS, I didn't even start printing until I had the exhaust system in place. I also gave up on resin printing due to how difficult it was to avoid stinking up the whole place.
PETG and PLA are pretty much safe to use on open bed printers, but you absolutely should never print ABS on anything but a properly enclosed and filtered printer
Great to see you’re focusing on making your printers safer, I think 3D printing emissions have not been taken serious enough for a while! Do you have any plans to integrate Nevermore filters into your setups? I’m currently using a Nevermore Max on my Voron 2.4, and while it effectively removes all the ABS smell, I’m curious about its overall effectiveness. Would love to see a follow up, which tests commercial and open source filters and chamber upgrade paths for existing printers.
Greet video, so now we waiting for resins test. :D
I print mostly with ABS and ASA as I need their mechanical strength. I built a complete enclosure for the whole printer. The enclosure is fitted with an extractor fan that exhausts via a cross flow heat exchanger to outdoors. Clean air from outdoors comes in through the heat exchanger back to the enclosure. The heat exchanger helps to keep the enclosure temperature constant and prevents wasting energy in the winter. With this setup there is a negative pressure in the enclosure and no discernible odour in the workshop.
8:12 "Initially you'll see a big spike in particulates"
Something you have to be aware of is that ABS is not chemically stable at printing temperatures, it survives about 20 minutes before it breaks down beyond use. So during preheating of the hotend, you're creating a lot of polymer fragments that are released when you push out your purge geometry (purgeline or skirt or whatever). It's not pyrolisis, since it's oxygen starved.
Really top notch stuff Tom.
This is something that should be viewed before "top 5 beginner printers" I am moving my homemade purifier from next to my theater chair (close to air user) back into the print room (close to source). Also going to put a tight sweep on the door and create a small leak at the window. essentially making the print room positive pressure vented outdoors, and particulate filtered thru bog standard 12x24 merv13 filters.
quality info on a topic affecting essentially anyone melting plastic
Süßes Video
Love the SpongeBob reference at the beginning 😄
This is a fantastic video Tom thank you. I would love to see a follow up done with Nevermore filters! Furthermore, I would love to see the emissions of TPU!
So what should I do if I can’t have a dedicated room for my 3D printer, and most of the material I want to print is ABS?
+1
Become one with the fumes.
hydroponics tent, and the associated filters
If you care about your health? Find a safer hobby. Otherwise just keep at it 🤷♂️
I assume you have a bathroom? Move the printer there when in use and have the exhaust fan running with the door closed. (Or very slightly open if it seals well enough to impede the effectiveness of the fan.)
Glad you made this video. I've noticed that the higher printing temperature of PLA on my Prusa vs. my ender can be the difference between having an asthma attack and being fine. I had no idea how to test the VOCs n such.
Styyyyy-reeeeeen!
Also... harmful fumes, particals from your FFF printer? Yes! But first a word from the sponsor, toxic resin! (lol)
So bought an Ikea air filter... as always practical, helpful and solid video!
The IKEA FÖRNUFTIG activated carbon filter is literally see-through. Some of the air passes right through it. A denser carbon filter would filter a lot better.
It is the same logic as applied to the surgical masks during covid. The holes are orders of magnitude larger than what they are catching but you will do fine.
The IKEA filter is primarily designed to be quiet so you can keep it running for hours without being too disturbing. A less dense filter require less air pressure to pass through and a less noisy fan, but with enough airflow it will still filter most of the particles after some time.
First off, thank you for creating content on this topic. Safety is an important aspect of many activities that often gets overlooked. If you are willing to continue down this path of investigation for us, it seems like a natural follow up could be a comparison of a standard material vs its modified derivative. VOC and particulate material comparisons between PLA and PLA+ or PLA-HS would be great to see, especially considering the added chemical modifiers are not advertised and these materials are typically printed at higher temperatures. Another valuable comparison could be ABS and Sunlu easy ABS which prints at a lower temperature. It's just a thought. Thanks again.
Interesting result! But what about the MERV-13 filters? There is some valuable information in Healthy Home Guide's video on HEPA filters. From what I understand, "DIY air purifiers with MERV-13 HVAC filters are better than HEPA". Even if HEPA can remove very fine particles, increasing the CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) will make a huge difference in a room. Moving a lot more air through a less efficient (and cheaper) filter is better than moving less air through an efficient HEPA filter.
It would be interesting to see how the theory from this video apply in a 3D printing environment, for example testing DIY MERV filters against Amazon or Ikea HEPA you've shown.
On the VOCs side, I'm also intrigued by the efficiency of the Nevermore Micro V6 filter. It claims that "it can process the chamber volume of a 250 Voron in just 30 seconds, and a larger 350 in approximately 2 minutes". I'd like to see if this is enough compared to the particles created when printing at high speed, high temperature, as well as the efficiency of the traditional carbon against the new Nevermore Scorch.
The perfect setup from what I know would probably be a DIY large air filter in the room with a good CADR, with a carbon-activated (or alternative) small filter in an enclosed printer. The DIY large air filter can run even without printing, running slower and quieter, while the small noisier carbon-activated filter removes the VOCs during print and keep the warm air inside.
Thank you for testing this stuff, while your results aren't surprising, the fact that an off the shelf air purifier (with HEPA filter, granted) can make such a difference is definitely important information for everyone using a 3d printer.
Would be interesting to see the numbers for a resin printer. I'm guessing since most are done using UV light, it's more a VOC emission than a particulate.
Great video Thomas, it is always nice when influencers are actively trying to keep their audience safe and informed.
As a resin printer. I made the mistake of leaving the IPA open to the air for months in the bathroom.
1 learnt that IPA evaporates
2 the VOC was permeating into the house and it DID cause sleep problems
3 my body didn’t feel good as I was breathing it in ambient air circulation
After sealing it in a Tupperware enclosure, and relocating it to the basement, I had better sleep and woke up feeling better in the mornings
Thanks for this video. I love the broad array of sensors, but there was a ton more work than that. Good useful information.
Unfortunately, there are no relatively affordable sensors that can even remotely accurately count or distinct particles between 10 and 1 um. There are research papers comparing them, and badically all of them are garbage to the level "something is there".
Interesting video! I print both FDM and resin. I have 3 Philips filters always running. They also have some (very basic) sensors and i see them sometime show bad air quality and increase speed. My experience is venting outside works best but they definatly help. Also dont forget about everything post printing and (some) resins still fuming well after the print. One thing to note tho. Pretty sure printing isnt good for you but the same can probably be said for cooking, cleaning (with chemicals) and painting. Some of those also really trigger the sensors in my purifiers.
15:17 haha No... A few years ago, I built an air filtration system (because the most 'beloved' minority in Hungary tends to burn rubber and all sorts of waste during the winter, creating constant smog even if their ghettos are 5-10 km away). It contains an H13 filter and 5 kg of activated carbon, specifically made from high-quality coconut shells. Although activated carbon is often touted as a miracle solution, it can hardly filter out anything; the smell of perfume, cooking odors, and the smog seeping in from outside all remain. I tried various types of carbon, but none were effective. Additionally, in this quantity, the carbon has a distinctive metallic smell, which also increases the VOC levels.
Thank you very much for the heads up on the Ikea filter... I went and got one today and it's a great addition. I use a Voron 2.4 with the clicky clack door and a Nevermore.. hardly any smell with ABS, but better filtration is better!
I would LOVE to see a blind study with creators, where these just run in their workspace without showing them data, and they take a standardized quiz to assess their mental well-being. I'm very interested to see how air quality correlates with creator burnout.
Been printing for years, and even though 90%+ of my prints are only in PLA, I have never been comfortable running a printer without an air filter close by, turned on. Thankfully I've never had any kind of itchy throat symptoms (at least none that couldn't be attributed to living with a few fur babies), but it's still always in my mind how these things might affect the air around me. I have a MK4 with an unbuilt enclosure right now, and I'm thinking even after I get the enclosure built I might save up for a separate carbon filter setup, with a big heavy carbon element connected to some 4" ducting.
That said, I've also always been extra vigilant about air quality, since I come from a long line of bad breathers... Just happy to see more people bringing attention to this, and hoping even more people (and manufacturers) take it seriously!
The amount of denial about emissions from 3D-printing is amazing even here.
Exactly what I have been looking for. Very nice explanation and interesting conclusions. I have learned a lot from this video. Thanks for sharing your amazing content.
As a medical doctor aware that nothing can take the place of prevention, I’ve done my best over the past few years to inform people of this threat with published research corroborating it, but virtually no one - certainly none of the big influencers - was interested.
I think the problem is that acknowledging this problem creates another: what to do about it. The simplest solution is to not print in occupied buildings (instead printing in a shed, for example), to evacuate the air from the shed before entering, and to wear a highly effective mask (P100, e.g. with 3M’s 60923 filters) whenever inside. I came up with a solution enabling users to safely print inside but there appears to be no interest in that option.
@@8BitLife69 : Here’s a relevant excerpt from published research (Exposure to ambient air pollution and cognitive decline: Results of the prospective Three-City cohort study): “Exposure to PM2.5 was associated with accelerated cognitive decline in our cohort.” Countless other studies corroborate that and discuss many other adverse effects of particulate pollution. You can ignore reality, but you can’t change it.
What’s your solution to printing inside? I would buy an enclosure that I could place my 3d printer in.
Working in the public school system in California we’ve started installing whole walls of fume hoods that contain the fdm and resin printers.
I built a cabinet for my printers that has a fan taking fumes outside. When the door is open, the fan can be turned up to vent the entire room. Works very well. Highly recommend it if you can do it.
Ya know, it turns out that 3d printing isn’t good for you or the environment. I can’t believe that something entirely based around plastics could be bad??!?!?!!?!!!?
I got into this hobby wayyy too heavy and now i realized this... Sucks bad
Its very good but you shouldnt brethe it in. Just like you dont sniff gasoline when you fuel your car either.