IAQ Concerns Associated with Additive Manufacturing

How Air Filtration Can Improve Indoor Air Quality

The evolution of modern additive manufacturing dates back to the 1980s when stereolithography was invented. Other additive technologies followed, improving on the first. Today, additive manufacturing includes not only 3D printing but also other highly innovative processes that build 3-dimensional objects layer by layer.

As sophisticated as these technologies have become, one thing still holds true today: occupational health risks are associated with additive manufacturing emissions. Most manufacturers know how to protect their workforce from harmful substances by implementing key indoor air quality strategies.

Additive Manufacturing, Defined

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a process of constructing a 3D object from the bottom up using a digital design, one layer at a time.  Materials used can range from metals to plastics, ceramics to liquids. Though not wholly accurate, the term “additive manufacturing” is often used interchangeably with 3D Printing. While the latter is a type of additive manufacturing, AM also includes other types of construction methods such as Directed Energy Deposition and Powder Bed Fusion.

Technically speaking, AM can refer to any method of building a multidimensional object – whether it be plastic eyeglass frames, titanium prosthetic knee joint, or intricately designed aircraft engine part.

Benefits

As compared to other manufacturing processes, AM allows for easy formation of products with complex shapes and sizes. It offers design flexibility and can produce a single item or thousands of items. AM allows for easy customization and a broad range of materials, saves time, reduces material waste, and streamlines tooling costs.

Despite all these benefits, one negative stands out: airborne pollutants that arise during additive manufacturing.

Additive Manufacturing Industries & Applications

Additive manufacturing is valued by manufacturing companies of all types and is used to fabricate many different products. Here is a small sampling of industries and applications that use additive manufacturing.

Aerospace – Combustion chambers, turbine blades, engine components.

Automotive – Strong, lightweight parts such as structural brackets, housings, and engine parts like fuel injectors.

Construction – Architectural models and prototypes for testing and construction visualization in homebuilding.

Kitchenware – Customized gadgets that require a tailor-made design. Appliances such as ovens and coffeemakers often use parts prototyped using AM.

Personal Grooming – Toothbrushes, soap dishes, razor handles, and hair combs.

Health Risks from Additive Manufacturing

To understand how additive manufacturing can create toxic emissions, consider how 3-dimensional objects are built. Whatever material is used – plastic, wood, metal, for example – is cut, melted, or ground, then blended with a binder before layering to build the object. These methods release potentially harmful particles and fumes into the air, creating a potentially hazardous indoor air quality. Emissions include UFPs (ultrafine particles) and VOCs (volatile organic compounds), both of which can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, headaches, breathing difficulty, confusion, ear, nose, and throat irritation, to name only a handful of health complications.

Air Quality Solution

To avoid workplace exposure to AM pollution, manufacturers should take the following precautions to protect their workers:

1. Require the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, masks, and goggles.
2. Maintain clean and dust-free work areas.
3. Ensure proper ventilation.
4. Remove dust, fumes, and particles at their source by using air cleaning equipment.

At AIR Systems, we protect our AM customers by offering exceptional air cleaning products, such as our SP-400 Portable Fume Extractor, with a HEPA filter option. Air filtration systems (also known as dust collectors, air purifiers, air cleaners, and fume extractors) can help improve indoor air quality by removing potentially hazardous emissions at their source, before they can enter a worker’s breathing space. Contact us today for a free consultation with one of our indoor environmental specialists to learn which one of our air cleaning products is right for you.

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