Characterization of chemical contaminants generated by a desktop fused deposition modeling 3-dimensional Printer

Figures & data

Table 1. Factors influencing emissions from desktop fused deposition modeling 3-D printers.

	Emission type
Factor	Particulate	Chemical
Printer design
Model	+	+
Age	+	?
Bed temperature	+	–
Nozzle temperature	+	–
Number of nozzles	±	?
Malfunction	+	?
Control technologies	+	?
Consumables
Filament type	+	+
Filament color	+	+

Note. + = factor reported to influence emissions; – = factor reported to not influence emissions; ± = influence of factor on emissions unclear; ? = influence of factor on emissions is unknown.

Table 2. Average ± standard deviation of TVOC SER_u values for 3-D and laser printers.

Printer	Thermoplastic	Replicates	Cover	SERu (µg h^−1)
3-D	ABS natural	2 combs	On	3552 ± 549
3-D	ABS natural	1 comb	Off	3430
3-D	ABS natural	1 comb [malfunction]	Off	6454
3-D	ABS blue	2 combs	On	2385 ± 82
3-D	ABS red	2 combs	On	2383 ± 357
3-D	ABS black	2 combs	On	1085 ± 217
3-D	PLA ocean blue	2 combs	On	ND
3-D	PLA transparent blue	2 combs	On	131 ± 37
3-D	PLA true red	2 combs	On	ND – 49
3-D	PLA army green	2 combs	On	ND – 51
HP2055dn	Monochrome toner	80 pages @ 5%	N/A	5782
HP2600	Monochrome toner	80 pages @ 5%	N/A	7735

Note. N/A = not applicable for laser printers, ND = not detected using real-time TVOC instrument, ABS = acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, PLA = polylactic acid.

Figure 1. Ozone concentrations for (a) 3-D printer using natural ABS with the printer cover on and off, (b) 3-D printer using true red PLA, (c) HP2055dn laser printer using monochrome toner (80 pages), and (d) HP 2600 laser printer using monochrome (80 pages) toner. Numbers for each vertical line denote: 0 = begin baseplate heating (ABS only), 1 = begin print job, and 2 = end print job.

Figure 2. Chromatograms of the three peaks for TBOX-derivatized 4-oxopentanal from samples collected during background-, printing-, and post-printing phases—derivatization of non-symmetric carbonyls using TBOX typically results in multiple chromatographic peaks due to geometric isomers of the oximes.

Table 3. Average ± standard deviation of background-corrected concentrations of individual VOCs measured by whole-air sampling with canisters during 3-D printing (µg m⁻³).

	ABS				PLA
VOC	Natural	Blue	Red	Black	True red	Army green	Ocean blue	Trans blue
Acetaldehyde	16.3 ± 10.1	13.7 ± 8.5	7.7 ± 0.4	11.1 ± 2.2	3.6 ± 1.4	5.5 ± 3.7	5.0 ± 2.0	5.0 ± 0.6
Ethanol	57.3 ± 32.4	67.2	39.9	63.1	103.3 ± 5.6	85.0 ± 79.1	55.5 ± 22.1	73.0 ± 77.1
Acetonitrile	0.6			2.7	5.4 ± 1.9	0.4	0.4 ± 0.2	1.0 ± 1.3
Acetone	15.0 ± 7.9	62.4 ± 12.0	31.5	45.3 ± 2.3	27.0 ± 18.7	31.8 ± 1.0	7.2 ± 2.7	3.5 ± 0.9
Isopropyl alc.	87.2 ± 83.8	47.7	108.1	213.0	552.3 ± 66.9	1582.8	278.3 ± 3.4	99.4 ± 44.6
n-Hexane		1.8 ± 1.2	0.8	3.1	0.2 ± 0.0	1.3	0.3	1.9 ± 2.0
Chloroform		1.4	0.4	1.2	1.0	0.3	0.6	0.7 ± 0.5
Benzene	0.2	1.5						1.8
Toluene		1.4 ± 1.5				1.9	1.1
Ethylbenzene	4.7	7.3 ± 1.0	6.6 ± 0.6
m,p-Xylene	0.2	3.1 ± 2.1	3.0	1.8
Styrene	252.1 ± 128.7	212.1 ± 9.9	237.1 ± 62.9	100.5 ± 11.7
o-Xylene		1.6 ± 0.0		1.9
D-Limonene

Note. Empty cell = compound not detected or present at level less than background (pre-operating phase), ABS = acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, PLA = polylactic acid.

Table 4. Average ± standard deviation of background-corrected concentrations of individual VOCs Measured by Whole-air Sampling with Canisters during Laser Printing (µg m⁻³).

	HP2055dn laser		HP2600 laser
VOC	10 pages	80 pages	10 pages	80 pages
Acetaldehyde	2.0	20.5	6.8	27.2
Ethanol	24.3	38.7 ± 45.9	53.6 ± 15.6
Acetonitrile	0.1	2.1	0.2
Acetone		5.1
Isopropyl alcohol	38.6	113.2	204.6	272.1
n-Hexane	3.8	0.3	1.4 ± 0.8
Chloroform		0.3		3.1
Benzene		3.2 ± 0.8	1.0
Toluene		16.5 ± 20.7	26.8	0.3
Ethylbenzene		87.5	4.0
m,p-Xylene	0.3	34.7	7.9	2.5
Styrene	4.4	8.1		4.4
o-Xylene	0.3	26.9 ± 36.5	1.3
D-Limonene		26.6	7.1	15.5

Note. Empty cell = compound not detected or present at level less than background (pre-operating phase).

Table 5. Average geometric mean (GM) particle size and average ± standard deviation particle emission rates (PER) for 3-D and laser printers.

Printer	Consumable	Print job	Avg. GM^a (nm)	SMPS (# < 0.66 µm min^−1)
HP2055dn	Monochrome toner	80 pages @ 5%	39.6	7.1 ± 0.7 × 10^10
HP2600	Monochrome toner	80 pages @ 5%	168.3	9.8 × 10^7
3-D^b	ABS natural	3 combs	53.7	1.6 ± 0.0 × 10^10
	ABS blue	2 combs	63.1	7.5 ± 1.0 × 10^9
	ABS red	2 combs	49.9	1.4 ± 0.3 × 10^10
	ABS black	2 combs	45.3	1.0 ± 0.2 × 10^10
	PLA true red	4 combs	36.4	1.3 ± 0.5 × 10^10
	PLA army green	4 combs	36.1	1.3 ± 0.2 × 10^10
	PLA ocean blue	4 combs	36.5	1.1 ± 0.7 × 10^10
	PLA transparent blue	4 combs	37.7	1.6 ± 0.2 × 10^10

^a Mobility diameter from electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI) measurements.

^b Scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) data from Yi et al.,^[19] ABS = acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, PLA = polylactic acid.

Yi, J., R. F. LeBouf, M. G. Duling, et al.: Emission of particulate matter from a desktop three-dimensional (3-D) printer. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health A 79:453–465 (2016).

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