Department of Fire Protection, Faculty of Safety Engineering, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, CZ708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Department of Occupational and Process Safety, Faculty of Safety Engineering, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, CZ708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 21;18(3):929. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18030929.
Currently, widely available three-dimensional (3D) printers are very popular with the public. Previous research has shown that these printers can emit ultrafine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Several studies have examined the emissivity of filaments from 3D printing, except glycol modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) and styrene free co-polyester (NGEN) filaments. The aim of this study was to evaluate UFP and VOC emissions when printing using a commonly available 3D printer (ORIGINAL PRUSA i3 MK2 printer) using PETG and NGEN. The concentrations of UFPs were determined via measurements of particle number concentration and size distribution. A thermal analysis was carried out to ascertain whether signs of fiber decomposition would occur at printing temperatures. The total amount of VOCs was determined using a photoionization detector, and qualitatively analyzed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The total particle concentrations were 3.88 × 10 particles for PETG and 6.01 × 10 particles for NGEN. VOCs at very low concentrations were detected in both filaments, namely ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene. In addition, styrene was identified in PETG. On the basis of our results, we recommend conducting additional measurements, to more accurately quantify personal exposure to both UFPs and VOCs, focusing on longer exposure as it can be a source of potential cancer risk.
目前，广泛使用的三维（3D）打印机非常受公众欢迎。之前的研究表明，这些打印机可以排放超细颗粒（UFPs）和挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）。有几项研究检查了 3D 打印用丝的排放情况，但不包括乙二醇改性聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PETG）和无苯乙烯共聚酯（NGEN）丝。本研究的目的是评估使用常用的 3D 打印机（ORIGINAL PRUSA i3 MK2 打印机）打印时使用 PETG 和 NGEN 时 UFPs 和 VOC 的排放情况。通过测量粒子数浓度和粒径分布来确定 UFPs 的浓度。进行了热分析，以确定在打印温度下是否会发生纤维分解的迹象。使用光离子化检测器确定 VOC 的总量，并通过气相色谱-质谱进行定性分析。PETG 的总粒子浓度为 3.88×10 个粒子，NGEN 的总粒子浓度为 6.01×10 个粒子。在两种丝中都检测到了非常低浓度的 VOCs，即乙苯、甲苯和二甲苯。此外，在 PETG 中还鉴定出了苯乙烯。基于我们的结果，我们建议进行进一步的测量，以更准确地量化个人对 UFPs 和 VOCs 的暴露量，重点关注更长的暴露时间，因为它可能是潜在癌症风险的来源。
