Particle and organic vapor emissions from children’s 3-D pen and 3-D printer toys

Abstract

Objective: Fused filament fabrication “3-dimensional (3-D)” printing has expanded beyond the workplace to 3-D printers and pens for use by children as toys to create objects.

Materials and methods: Emissions from two brands of toy 3-D pens and one brand of toy 3-D printer were characterized in a 0.6 m³ chamber (particle number, size, elemental composition; concentrations of individual and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC)). The effects of print parameters on these emission metrics were evaluated using mixed-effects models. Emissions data were used to model particle lung deposition and TVOC exposure potential.

Results: Geometric mean particle yields (10⁶–10¹⁰ particles/g printed) and sizes (30–300 nm) and TVOC yields (<detectable to 590 µg TVOC/g printed) for the toys were similar to those from 3-D printers used in workplaces. Metal emissions included manganese (1.6–92.3 ng/g printed) and lead (0.13–1.2 ng/g printed). Among toys, extruder nozzle conditions (diameter, temperature) and filament (type, color, and extrusion speed) significantly influenced particle and TVOC emissions. Dose modeling indicated that emitted particles would deposit in the lung alveoli of children. Exposure modeling indicated that TVOC concentration from use of a single toy would be 1–31 µg/m³ in a classroom and 3–154 µg/m³ in a residential living room.

Discussion: Potential exists for inhalation of organic vapors and metal-containing particles during use of these toys.

Conclusions: If deemed appropriate, e.g. where multiple toys are used in a poorly ventilated area or a toy is positioned near a child’s breathing zone, control technologies should be implemented to reduce emissions and exposure risk.

Keywords:

• 3-D printing
• toys
• particles
• volatile organic compounds
• children
• exposure

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr J. du Plessis (North-West University, South Africa) and Dr Michael Gonzalez (U.S. EPA) for critical review of this manuscript before submission to the journal. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Government, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control, or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This research was supported by NIOSH intramural funds. This research was supported in part by an appointment of Derek Peloquin to the Post-Doctoral Research Program at the National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through Interagency Agreement No. DW-89-92433001 between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. EPA.

Disclosure statement

TRN acknowledges the support of Grants NIH R01 ES015022 and CPSC 1007890R. All other authors declare they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NIH [R01 ES015022] and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission [1007890R].