Citation: Khaki, S.; Rio, M.; Marin, P.
Characterization of Emissions in Fab
Labs: An Additive Manufacturing
Environment Issue. Sustainability
2022, 14, 2900. https://doi.org/
10.3390/su14052900
Academic Editors: João Carlos de
Oliveira Matias and Paolo Renna
Received: 28 January 2022
Accepted: 23 February 2022
Published: 2 March 2022
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Article
Characterization of Emissions in Fab Labs: An Additive
Manufacturing Environment Issue
Shirin Khaki, Maud Rio * and Philippe Marin
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, G-SCOP, 38000 Grenoble, France;
shirin.khaki@insight-centre.org (S.K.); philippe.marin@grenoble-inp.fr (P.M.)
* Correspondence: maud.rio@g-scop.eu
Abstract:
The emergence of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, such as 3D printing and
laser cutting, has created opportunities for new design practices covering a wide range of fields
and a diversity of learning and teaching settings. The potential health impact of particulate matter
and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from AM technologies is, therefore, a growing
concern for makers. The research behind this paper addresses this issue by applying an indoor air
quality assessment protocol in an educational fabrication laboratory. The paper presents the evalu-
ation of the particle emission rate of different AM technologies. Real-time monitoring of multiple
three-dimensional Polylactic Acid (PLA), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Thermoplastic
Elastomers (TPE) printers and Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) laser cutters was performed in
different usage scenarios. Non-contact electrical detectors and off-line gas chromatography–mass
spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to detect VOCs. The results show that the emitted particle sur-
face area concentrations vary between 294 and 406.2
µ
m
2
/cm
3
for three-dimensional printers, and
between 55.06 and 92.3
µ
m
2
/cm
3
for laser cutters. The experiments demonstrate that the emission
concentrations were highly dependent on the filtration systems in place. The highest quantities of
VOCs emitted included Cyclohexene and Benzyl Alcohol for PLA, ABS and TPE 3D printers, and
formic acid and Xylene for PMMA laser cutters. The experiment concludes that signature emissions
are detectable for a given material type and an AM technology pair. A suitable mitigation strategy can
be specified for each signature detected. Finally, this paper outlines some guidelines for improving
indoor air quality in such specific environments. The data provided, as well as the proposed indoor
air quality protocol, can be used as a baseline for future studies, and thus help to determine whether
the proposed strategies can enhance operator and bystander safety.
Keywords:
additive manufacturing; 3D printing; laser cutting; ultrafine particles; volatile organic
compounds; gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; Fab Labs
1. Introduction
Manufacturing technologies, materials and design methods are developing rapidly.
Additive manufacturing is playing an important role in the changes being made to the
processes, contexts, organization and business models associated with product and service
development in our industrial societies. The techniques used to manufacture components
by removing materials from forged blocks or melting and molding materials can today be
considered as conventional. Objects created by additive manufacturing (AM) are the result
of materials being joined together, usually layer upon layer [
1
,
2
]. AM processes complement
traditional ones, hence facilitating and accelerating the customized machining of small parts.
Thanks to AM, new shapes and new functions can sometimes be designed faster, without
requiring substantial investment from the manufacturer. Innovative components can now
be introduced to the production line in an accurate, reliable and repeatable manner [
3
,
4
].
The massive development of AM technology (including design software) has made it
possible to produce novel, individualized parts with complex structures faster and at a
Sustainability 2022, 14, 2900. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052900 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
