Moving Beyond PLA
As you start with a single 3D printer and printing PLA filament–you can be relatively comfortable with safety of the process. When you want to start moving to other filaments, however, that print at higher temperatures and are chemically different from PLA; it is likely time to consider the environment in which you are printing.
Many home printers are printing in–well, just that–their home. Where they and their families also live and (some) work. Enclosing your 3D Printer and providing a ventilation or filtration system will not only help you keep the air you breath most clean, but also have an ancillary benefit to temperature management which can be important for higher-temperature printing filaments.
Health Risks of 3D Printing
The 3D Printing process primarily generates two types of harmful air qualities issues, namely (1) particulate matter and (2) Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). In sufficient quantity these can have harmful health effects.
Printing PLA is considered relatively safe1 without an enclosure although air contamination increases as the number of machines simultaneously run increases.
If you want to start printing with other filaments (ASA, ABS, PETG) which print at higher temperatures, and have increased particulate and VOC output, it’s a good idea to enclose your 3D printer and provide ventilation or filtration. Through enclosure and ventilation, the amount of particulates and VOCs to which the user is exposed can be greatly reduced2.
“proper ventilation can reduce potential health risk by 55.5%”3
1 Felix L Chan, Chun-Yip Hon, Susan M Tarlo, Nikhil Rajaram & Ronald House (2020) Emissions and health risks from the use of 3D printers in an occupational setting, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 83:7, 279-287, DOI: 10.1080/15287394.2020.1751758
2 3D Printing-Induced Fine Particle and Volatile Organic Compound Emission: An Emerging Health RiskKe Min, Yong Li, Dingyi Wang, Bo Chen, Ming Ma, Ligang Hu, Qian Liu, and Guibin JiangEnvironmental Science & Technology Letters 2021 8 (8), 616-625DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00311
3 Analysis of ways to reduce potential health risk from ultrafine and fine particles emitted from 3D printers in the makerspace. Seungkeun Yeom, Hakpyeong Kim, Taehoon Hong, Kwangbok Jeong
Managing Exhaust & Air Quality
Considering the two types of contaminants we are attempting to control: (1) particulate and (2) VOC. Each has it’s own management strategy. Once we have an enclosed 3D printer, we can deal with each respectively.
Enclosures
Cheap & Quick: Tent-based enclosures can be bought ready made online relatively cheaply–although not the most attractive, and although they can obscure visibility of your print–they’ll help to maintain temperature in the immediate printing atmosphere as well as contain the air–preventing distribution throughout your home or workspace and allow you to choose a ventilation or filtration option to manage air quality. Consider (1) if you will be venting or filtering, so you can pick one with or without an exhaust port; and (2) if you will be using a webcam or want a viewing window for manual observation.
Custom & Pretty: There are other, fancier, and attractive enclosures on the market. Some are custom to your specific printer, some can be retrofitted, and others are generic. Be sure to assess not only the size of your printer at rest, but the width, depth, and height when the build plate or axis are fully extended in each direction. I chose to build an acrylic and aluminum extrusion enclosure relatively cheaply and I think aesthetically it looks great.
Ventilation
If you can manage to attach a vent hose to your printer enclosure and with a small computer fan or similar, vent the exhaust to the outside of your home or workshop, this is the most effective as well as cheapest option. If you’re not able or willing to drill a hole through an exterior wall, however, filtration is a viable option.
Filtration
VOCs are best filtered with activated carbon filters. Particulates are best filtered with HEPA filters. The combination of the two should be used in your enclosure when ventilation is not possible.
Other Considerations
In addition to the added air quality and reduced health effects of enclosing your 3D printer, enclosure will also aid in heat retention. When printing with non-PLA filaments, a higher bed temp, ambient environmental/air temperature, and nozzle/extrusion temperature is required. You can retain the heat generated by the 3D printing process in the immediate vicinity of your print by enclosing it.
