Analysis of Indoor 3-D Printing Emissions

by Aradia Vargas

Submitted : Spring 2018

Analyzing the amount of ultra-fine particles (UFP) emitted from 3-D printing is important because UFPs from ABS (a type of plastic commonly used in 3-D printing) have been shown to have toxic effects- so analyzing the emissions may encourage people to use caution and ventilation when 3-D printing indoors. Density function of distribution of UFPs under 3-D printing and non- 3D printing conditions were analyzed, along with their sum using polynomial approximations.  The results suggest that 3D printing does emit a significant amount of UFPs in an enclosed, indoor environment with no ventilation. Also, that ABS plastic seems to have a greater amount of UFPs emitted than PLA, which could support other findings that ABS releases UFPs that are toxic.

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