Air pollutant emissions from multi jet fusion, material-jetting, and digital light synthesis commercial 3D printers in a service bureau

As additive manufacturing becomes more prevalent in industrial facilities, so does human interaction with these machines. In this study, we characterized the size-resolved concentrations of particulate matter (PM, from ≈ 11 to 20,000 nm size) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) resulting a material-jetting (Projet 5500X), multi jet fusion (HP MJF 4200), photopolymerization (Carbon 3D continuous liquid interface production). During all processes, PM were below OSHA limits ultrafine (PM0.1) well levels commonly observed for fused deposition modeling printers. total compound during printing close background HP printer post processing station. However, mean particle size powder used (PA 12) was above upper detection limit instrument (20 μm). Carbon VOC highest part processing. Cyclic emissions Projet 5500X suggested higher cooling fan activity. analysis revealed high ink solvents (2-Pyrrolidinone Triethylene glycol), potential exposure fluorinated photoresin VOCs post-processing, photo-resin printing. This study indicates that proper exhaust facility air exchange can therefore particular attention building design ventilation system should be taken into consideration facilities mitigate associated health risks.