Wojtyła Szymon, Klama Piotr, Baran Tomasz
a SajTom Light Future Ltd. , Czaniec , Poland.
b 3DKreator Ltd. , Cracow , Poland.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2017 Jun;14(6):D80-D85. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2017.1285489.
The fast development of low-cost desktop three-dimensional (3D) printers has made those devices widely accessible for goods manufacturing at home. However, is it safe? Users may belittle the effects or influences of pollutants (organic compounds and ultrafine particles) generated by the devices in question. Within the scope of this study, the authors attempt to investigate thermal decomposition of the following commonly used, commercially available thermoplastic filaments: acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and nylon. Thermogravimetric analysis has shown the detailed thermal patterns of their behavior upon increasing temperature in neutral atmosphere, while GC analysis of organic vapors emitted during the process of heating thermoplastics have made it possible to obtain crucial pieces of information about the toxicity of 3D printing process. The conducted study has shown that ABS is significantly more toxic than PLA. The emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC) has been in the range of 0.50 µmol/h. Styrene has accounted for more than 30% of total VOC emitted from ABS, while for PLA, methyl methacrylate has been detected as the predominant compound (44% of total VOCs emission). Moreover, the authors have summarized available or applicable methods that can eliminate formed pollutants and protect the users of 3D printers. This article summarizes theoretical knowledge on thermal degradation of polymers used for 3D printers and shows results of authors' investigation, as well as presents forward-looking solutions that may increase the safety of utilization of 3D printers.
低成本桌面三维(3D)打印机的快速发展使这些设备在家庭中广泛用于商品制造。然而,它安全吗?用户可能会轻视这些设备产生的污染物(有机化合物和超细颗粒)的影响。在本研究范围内,作者试图研究以下常用的市售热塑性长丝的热分解:丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯(ABS)、聚乳酸(PLA)、聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯(PET)和尼龙。热重分析显示了它们在中性气氛中升温时的详细热行为模式,而热塑性塑料加热过程中排放的有机蒸汽的气相色谱分析使得获取有关3D打印过程毒性的关键信息成为可能。所进行的研究表明,ABS的毒性明显高于PLA。挥发性有机化合物(VOC)的排放量在0.50微摩尔/小时范围内。苯乙烯占ABS排放的总VOC的30%以上,而对于PLA,已检测到甲基丙烯酸甲酯是主要化合物(占总VOC排放量的44%)。此外,作者总结了可用于消除形成的污染物并保护3D打印机用户的现有或适用方法。本文总结了关于3D打印机所用聚合物热降解的理论知识,展示了作者的研究结果,并提出了可能提高3D打印机使用安全性的前瞻性解决方案。