Chemical and Physical Characterization of 3D Printer Aerosol Emissions with and without a Filter Attachment

Fused filament fabrication three-dimensional (3D) printers have been shown to emit ultrafine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Previous studies have quantified bulk 3D printer particle and VOC emission rates, as well as described particle chemical composition via ex situ analysis. Here, we present size-resolved aerosol composition measurements from in situ aerosol mass spectrometry and ex situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Particles were sampled for in situ analysis during acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA) 3D printing activities and ex situ analysis during ABS printing. We examined the effect of a high-efficiency particulate air filter attachment on ABS emissions and particle chemical composition and demonstrate that filtration was effective in preventing UFP emissions and that particles sampled during filtered prints did not have a high contribution (∼4% vs ∼10%) from aromatic ions in the mass spectrum. Ex situ analysis of particles collected during ABS printing was performed via TEM and electron energy loss spectroscopy, which indicated a high level of sp² bonding type consistent with polymeric styrene. One 3D print with PLA resulted in an aerosol mass size distribution with a peak at ∼300 nm. Unfiltered ABS prints resulted in particle mass size distributions with peak diameters of ∼100 nm.