title: Emissions of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds from Commercially Available Desktop Three-Dimensional Printers with Multiple Filaments.
abstract: Previous research has shown that desktop 3D printers can emit large numbers of ultrafine particles (UFPs, particles less than 100 nm) and some hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during printing, although very few filament and 3D printer combinations have been tested to date. Here we quantify emissions of UFPs and speciated VOCs from five commercially available filament extrusion desktop 3D printers utilizing up to nine different filaments by controlled experiments in a test chamber. Median estimates of time-varying UFP emission rates ranged from ∼10(8) to ∼10(11) min(-1) across all tested combinations, varying primarily by filament material and, to a lesser extent, bed temperature. The individual VOCs emitted in the largest quantities included caprolactam from nylon-based and imitation wood and brick filaments (ranging from ∼2 to ∼180 μg/min), styrene from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) filaments (ranging from ∼10 to ∼110 μg/min), and lactide from polylactic acid (PLA) filaments (ranging from ∼4 to ∼5 μg/min). Results from a screening analysis of potential exposure to these products in a typical small office environment suggest caution should be used when operating many of the printer and filament combinations in poorly ventilated spaces or without the aid of combined gas and particle filtration systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology , Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States.
authors.forename: Parham
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Azimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology , Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology , Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States.|Ecole des Ingénieurs de la Ville de Paris , 80 Rue Rebeval, 75019 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pouzet
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
authors.forename: Neil E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Crain
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology , Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States.
authors.forename: Brent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stephens
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D011327:Printing; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds