• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.153-162
• /
• 2020

Objectives: 3D printing technologies have become widely developed and are increasingly being used for a variety of purposes. Recently, the evaluation of 3D printing operations has been conducted through chamber test studies, and actual workplace studies have yet to be completed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the emission of volatile organic compounds(VOCs), metals, and particles from printing operations at a workplace. This included monitoring conducted at a commercial 3D printing service workplace where the processes involved material extrusion, material jetting, binder jetting, vat photo polymerization, and powder bed fusion. Methods: Area samples were collected with using a Tenax TA tube for VOC emission and MCE filter for metals in the workplace. For particle monitoring, Mini Particle Samplers(MPS) were also placed in the printer, indoor work area, and outdoor area. The objective was to analyze and identify particles' size, morphology, and chemical composition using transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy(TEM-EDS) in the workplace. Results: The monitoring revealed that the concentration of VOCs and metals generated during the 3D printing process was low. However, it also revealed that within the 3D printing area, the highest concentration of total volatile organic compounds(TVOC) was 4,164 ppb at the vat photopolymerization 3D printing workplace, and the lowest was 148 ppb at the material extrusion 3D printing workplace. For the metals monitoring, chromium, which, is carcinogenic for humans, was detected in the workplace. As a characteristic of the particles, nano-sized particles were also found during the monitoring, but most of them were agglomerated with large and small particles. Conclusions: Based on the monitoring conducted at the commercial 3D printing operation, the results revealed that the concentration of VOCs and metals in the workplace were within Korea's occupational exposure limits. However, due to the emission of nano-sized particles during 3D printing operations, it was recommended that the exposure to VOCs and metals in the workplace should be minimized out of concern for workers' health. It was also shown that the characteristics of particles emitted from 3D printing operations may spread widely within an indoor workplace.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.153-162
• /
• 2022

Objectives: Fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer which is one of the material extrusion (MEX) technologies is an additive manufacturing (AM) process. 3D printers have been distributed widely in Korea, particularly in school and office, even at home. Several studies have shown that nanoparticles and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were emitted from an FDM 3D printing process. The objective of this study was to identify types of chemicals possibly emitted from FDM 3D printing materials such as PLA (polylactic acid), ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), nylon, PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol), PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), PC (polycarbonate) filaments. Methods: 19 FDM 3D printing filaments which have been distributed in Korea were selected and analyzed VOCs emitted of 3D printing materials by headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (headspace GC-MS). Subsamples were put into a vial and heated up to 200℃ (500 rpm) during 20 minutes before analyzing FDM 3D printing filaments. Results: In the case of PLA filament, lactide and methyl methacrylate, the monomer components of one, were detected, and the volume ratio ranged 27~93%, 0.5~37% respectively. In the case of ABS filaments, styrene (50.5~59.1%), the monomer components of one, was detected. Several VOCs among acetaldehyde, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, etc were detected from each FDM 3D printing filaments. Conclusions: Several VOCs, semi-VOCs were emitted from FDM 3D printing filaments in this study and previous studies. Users were possibly exposed to ones so that we strongly believe that we recommend to install the ventilation system such as a local exhaust ventilation (LEV) when they operate the FDM 3D printers in a workplace.