New data on the air quality impacts of 3D printers in classrooms from UL shows these are of minimal concern, at least with proper ventilation in the school (https://bit.ly/4999W4j). Short lived increases in ultrafine particles and VOCs were observed. And since printers are unlikely to be operating continuously, the type of low temperature polymer 3D printers used in schools appear to be low risk. While not all studied printers have previously been so “clean”. 3D printing in general likely holds promise to significantly reduce exposures to operators from more traditional milling and welding processes as the technology continues to develop.
