SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-03-01T00:26:48Z

I spent six months with the printer next to my bed, only printing during the day but probably not great for me. I do have an enclosed printer so it is noticeably less scented when kept close.

Anyway, eventually I made a small carbon filter with a squirrel cage fan inside my print chamber, for extra precaution. It's a smaller area and easy to filter.

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-02-28T07:43:39Z

It's very good think to wear gloves and mask while plastic is melting.

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-30T03:47:08Z

adrian wrote:

... yeah, none of those ideas helped with my Benzene dependency ... arguably the road tar made it worse

You must be having a good day....keep smiling

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-30T00:31:30Z

... yeah, none of those ideas helped with my Benzene dependency ... arguably the road tar made it worse

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-30T00:21:16Z

LOL... Road tar.....May have to give that a try.

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-29T18:51:16Z

I started chewing on road tar to try and kick the lead paint habit I had.

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-29T18:00:18Z

Guess I shouldn't smell my printer while it's working huh? Oh well, at least I dont have to give up licking lead paint

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-28T23:04:13Z

Also some plastics are worse than others. ABS and PLA are relatively benign, though I use both only in well ventilated areas.

Re: Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-28T22:22:33Z

Problems happen when plastic is burned, but that isn't the same as melted. As long as it isn't going up in flames or smoking, there isn't much to worry about.

Safety Precautions - Extruding Plastic

2014-01-28T20:23:36Z

What kind of safety precautions you guys take when extruding raw plastic into printer filament? (Also, to a lesser extent when running a FDM 3D printer.)

My understanding is that burning plastic can release dioxins and have other health effects. That makes me think that at least some type of breathing mask and gloves would be necessary when melting plastic.

Thanks!