What is it about?
3D printers can release ultrafine and fine particles into the air that may be harmful to people’s health. We tested several low-cost solutions to reduce these emissions and found them to reduce emissions by at least 84% and in some cases almost completely.
Featured Image
Photo by Osman Talha Dikyar on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The use of 3D printers is a rapidly growing across multiple industries. It is crucial to continue developing effective engineering controls for various 3D printing technologies (e.g., resin, thermoplastic, metal) that can mitigate hazardous emissions that can be released during 3D printing processes to protect worker health.
Perspectives
This is my first peer-reviewed publication published in a journal. I am very grateful to co-authors and team member that put sweat equity into this work. None of this would have been possible without them. This work will also help my agency conduct lab and field studies in collaboration with our partners and respond to occupational safety and health request regarding 3D printing technologies. Additionally, we plan to publish the custom control developed in this paper on 3D printer file share websites in the future.
Chris Barnes
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reducing particulate emissions from 3D printers using low-cost enclosures and engineering controls, Rapid Prototyping Journal, November 2025, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/rpj-05-2025-0182.
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