TY - CONF A1 - Wilke, Olaf A1 - Seeger, Stefan T1 - VOC-Emissions from thermoplastic filaments for 3-D-printing N2 - Summary: A screening test for potential emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) was run on different thermoplastic filaments used for 3D printing. The method of direct thermal desorption was used to simulate the high temperatures during the 3D printing process and to identify the main compounds emitted from the filaments. A large number of unexpected compounds were detected that might affect the user’s health and have an impact on indoor air chemistry. Introduction: The use of desktop 3D printers is increasing. Compared to other devices with known emissions, e.g. laser printers, there is still a lack of information on possible emissions of VOC and ultrafine particles during operation and the effect on indoor air quality. Most of the commercially available desktop 3D printers operate with a molten polymer deposition. For this process a solid thermoplastic filament is heated in an extrusion nozzle. Most filaments for desktop 3D printers use either acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polylactic acid (PLA) as filament. Alternatives are polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or polycarbonate (PC). Method: Eight different thermoplastic filaments for 3D printers were analysed by direct thermal desorption followed by GC-MS identification of the emitted substances. Direct thermal desorption was done by desorbing 5 mg of the feedstock for 1 minute at a temperature of 210°C. This is an average temperature for 3D printing with thermoplastic filaments. Results and conclusions: The comparison of the 4 different filament groups showed the highest overall emissions from ABS, followed by PLA, PC and PVA. Filament ABS 2 emitted mainly SVOCs and triphenyl phosphate, the latter has the highest emission for a single compound from all evaluated filaments. Thermoplastic filaments are a new source of VOC emissions due to the high temperatures associated with 3D printing, which can reach up to 270°C. Some of the detected compounds like lactic acid, lactide and bisphenol A have never been described before in the indoor environment. Additionally some of the main substances could not be identified and some others might have the potential to affect the indoor air chemistry. The appearance of some newly detected compounds raises concerns about potential health effects for the users of 3D printers at home. T2 - 20th Conference | Odour and Emissions of Plastic Materials CY - Kassel, Germany DA - 20.03.2018 KW - VOC KW - Emissions KW - 3D printing KW - Thermoplastic filaments PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44551 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -