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[deleted] t1_j9v42gz wrote

Passively effective or not, no amount of activated charcoal would make me comfortable sharing a room with a resin printer for an extended period of time. I'd want a decent quality respirator.

Heck, even an FDM printer puts a lot of small particles in the air.

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xoxorockoutloud123 t1_j9whpgo wrote

10,000,000% this. Resin printers are just concerning to be around overall. Even with proper protocols, gloves, respirator, ventilation, spill protection, etc..., the hazards are fairly "industrial" and should be treated as such. It only takes one accident.

FDM is the way to go for unenclosed or close-by environments. Powder bed is the way to go if you can afford it and have a workshop. I leave resin to the industrial print facilities or actual full production shops that have separate spaces.

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[deleted] t1_j9v96lq wrote

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[deleted] t1_j9wb0fa wrote

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Draelon t1_j9vpfc5 wrote

Read the manufacturers instructions for the printer and resin used. If it says exhaust ventilation or other controls are required, ensure your employer is aware that is an OSHA reportable hazard. No further threatening required. If they fix it, great. If they get air sampling done (usually costs more than the actual basic ventilation for something like that) to show you’re under the exposure limit, great piece of mind. If they do nothing… well…. You already explained an employee could make a complaint so you decide.

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Draelon t1_j9vva1f wrote

Semi-off topic, but funny timing: Wife just got home complaining the plant she worked at just had a huge activated charcoal spill while doing some routine maintenace and she had to help clean it up, haha.

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Chounchin_ol_Scownch t1_j9w4z22 wrote

I hope she had all the proper PPE. Lots of fine particulates I would imagine.

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Draelon t1_j9wieh5 wrote

Hilariously, she's the plant safety manager, and knowing her, I assume she wore whatever PPE is required by the SDS and annoyed everyone by making them to do the same. ;p

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energeticentity t1_j9wecxe wrote

>ware that is an OSHA reportable hazard. No further threatening required. If they fix it, great. If they get air sampling done (usually costs more than the actual basic

what about FDM printer using ASA filament? Is that comparably dangerous? I was wondering in my job, they told me not to worry about it but I still am.

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Draelon t1_j9wi8pm wrote

BLUF: If manufacturer's instructions or chemical SDS, regarding a chemical, are not followed, it's likely an OSHA finding.

Edit: Most people throw away instruction books (or ignore them) and manufacturer's instructions and the books that come to the consumer are generally required to be followed or they have to pay for an IH technician/certified IH to come in and verify there isn't an overexposure. If you follow those, without a survey, it is very unlikely to be an issue (because they are generally extremely conservative).

That said, In my time doing IH surveys, I didn't actually survey one of those specifically, but based on the description above, if there's a smell that bad, it's likely a high VOC exposure and depending on the VOC can be regulated. At a minimum, it's a nuisance exposure and may not be regulated but OSHA would likely still recommend control or depending on the actual chemical, it could even be something as bad an expanded standard chemical.

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QristopherQuixote t1_j9v3qox wrote

This is total bullshit. Unless the air is flowing through the charcoal, the bags of charcoal might cover up the smell but they will not remove the chemicals. Byproducts from 3d printing can be toxic, and you should not breath them for extended periods of time.

You can get a small fume extractor from Amazon used for soldering and have it extract the airborne chemicals. However, that might be insufficient. You could find a decent one for less than $100.

There are extractors available specifically for 3d printing:

https://blog.gotopac.com/2018/10/09/carbon-hepa-filters-for-toxic-3d-printing-fumes-particles-odors/

Allowing 3d printers to run in the open air might be a violation of work safety rules, and you might be able to insist on a full enclosure with a filter for the 3d printers to safely and fully remove the smells/chemicals from the printing runs. If you have a work safety steward, I would raise your concerns with that person. If not, look for the work safety office for the state where you live. I live in Michigan and the state office is MIOSHA

https://www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/miosha/about-miosha/contact

Every state has the equivalent.

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gtmattz OP t1_j9vmhmy wrote

> This is total bullshit. Unless the air is flowing through the charcoal, the bags of charcoal might cover up the smell but they will not remove the chemicals.

This is what I was thinking.

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hippyengineer t1_j9w00di wrote

Put the charcoal in a 5 gallon bucket. Put holes in the side, under the height of the charcoal, and on the bottom if the holes are small enough such that the charcoal doesn’t fall through. Find a fan on Amazon with the correct diameter to sit in the top. Boom. Filter.

Oh and make sure the bottom isn’t sitting flat on the floor if you put holes on the bottom. Put something underneath like some nuts/washers or books(off to the side)so there’s at least an inch under the bottom for air to flow.

You could also get an exhaust fan for like a grow room, with some dryer hose attached, and put the hose entrance right next to the printer, and the fan exhausting outside through a window, so you won’t need to filter your air to begin with.

Edit- dude shouldn’t need to do any of this, it’s his employer’s job. If it was just him and his printer, I’d recommend he does what I suggested above.^^

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daemon_panda t1_j9w98l9 wrote

No. These are probably hazardous fumes. His employer has a duty to his safety. If his employer refuses his duty, further steps must be taken. This is a potential health and safety violation. Any steps must be on the employer. People are more important than profits.

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Cult_ureS t1_j9vdmxx wrote

It's already been said that this won't work. However, an enclosure around the printer and a high quality HEPA filter should work, although it's not specifically my background. Just trying to give an idea you can take to them, if you find out it will work. Sucks that they're forcing this on you, but office politics are finicky and it's better to offer a solution when saying no.

Edit: HEPA may not be ideal. Here's a blog post to get you started on filters that might work. https://molekule.com/blog/the-best-air-purifier-for-3d-printer-fumes-and-other-pollutants/

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skisushi t1_j9w5pup wrote

I was going to comment that HEPA is for particulate filtration but won't be helpful for chemical vapors. A small amount might adsorb, but a filter designed for vapors (usually with activated charcoal in it) will be much safer.

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Hagenaar t1_j9vpiwo wrote

The truth is somewhere in the middle. Some of the VOCs from the copier will get trapped in the bag of charcoal. Just by virtue of it being there.

But this is absolutely not how effective filtration works. Filters are classified in terms of the media used, and the percent of a given particle size they're expected to block from the air that passes through the filter. Since we have no idea how much air is passing through the bags of charcoal (some percentage only slightly above zero) we can say that the air is effectively unfiltered.

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Ebayednoob t1_j9w1i8n wrote

That's a no go my bud.

Make sure you bring this up and save their responses via email ☺️ to cover your ass.

A lot of people may say 'get OSHA involved' but make sure your untouchable because the most probable reality is the job will fire you over something completely unrelated as retaliation. Even tho retaliation is technically illegal there's so many loopholes HR will know about..

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Chounchin_ol_Scownch t1_j9w4l3n wrote

This is like if you wanted to drink water from a pond so you threw in a big puck of a water purification tablet and then immediately dipped your cup in the pond. The fumes are not forced through the activated charcoal so it wont remove much at all. Maybe it adsorbs a very small percentage of the total contamination in the room. Even if that printer was in an enclosure that forced all the air through the bag of charcoal before it went into the room, it still would likely not remove much of the pollution.

I think the proper way to use this type of printer is inside an industrial fume hood like those used in labs or for solder stations in places that care about safety. Another option is to wear a properly 'fit-tested' respirator that has a filter designed to remove chemicals and harmful fumes from the air. If you do wear the mask, the room the printer is in should not be used without the mask until the room has been adequately vented. Don't let some underqualified person (such as your manager) tell you when the room is vented enough. Do your own research and present the OSHA recommendations for such an environment as well as the manufacturers recommendations. You can also call up the manufacturer and just chat them up to see what they think.

I soldered circuit boards and cables and used lots of heatshrink in a room with absolutely no ventilation for almost 10 years. The only thing I had was a small fan to blow it away from rising into my face. I'm probably f-cked....

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sir2fluffy2 t1_j9w7blc wrote

The fumes resin printers (and to a lesser degree FDM) give off are bad for health, I’m sure the good folks at r/3DPrinting would be able provide more details, but contact your osha equivalent ASAP and get that printer in a ventilated enclosure (one that ventilated outside the building) and out of your office

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MonkNo5 t1_j9vj430 wrote

On the side here, I sell furniture and often nail salons buy a few chairs and when I drop them off ( more than 10 times over a few years) they always have a very acrid smell inside the salon where they do nails. Its realy bad and I actively try not to breathe whilst inside. It reminds me of superglue cyanoacrylate and cannot be healthy for those exposed continuously.

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OliverIsMyCat t1_j9w16ss wrote

Interestingly, that's essentially the same stuff.

3D printers just use a specific formulation that cures better with specific lasers. But the final step for some 3D printed parts? Cure in a nail salon UV box.

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