Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? Hi folks, I have my printer in my basement, in its own room, well ventilated. I never go in there unless I'm pulling a print off the bed. However, the room still smells a bit even an hour or so after the print is finished. I have no short term exposure issues, but I'm wondering if I'm hurting myself in the long term. Do ABS fumes increase your risk of cancer? If so, what types of cancers? Do we even have enough data to know? Thanks! https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661416#msg-661416 Sat, 13 Jun 2026 18:15:25 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,665179#msg-665179 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,665179#msg-665179
I say the above not to belittle or demean the issue but to hopefully to make people think outside the immediate issue.]]> aussiephil General Wed, 18 May 2016 07:29:10 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,665082#msg-665082 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,665082#msg-665082 DjDemonD General Wed, 18 May 2016 03:46:01 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,665041#msg-665041 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,665041#msg-665041
What about mitigating or detecting the health effects from exposure we have already had?

What types of cancers can develop from abs fume and UFP exposure? I'm going to guess leukemia, lymphoma, lung, and brain but I honestly have no idea.

Maybe we should collect some more data on this. I hate to think about what I've exposed myself to already.]]> foul_owl General Tue, 17 May 2016 22:40:16 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662319#msg-662319 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662319#msg-662319
Quote
PRZ
This compact commercial unit (136x174x100- printclean scrubber) [3dprintclean.com]
do recirculation AND heat extraction (there is two fans).
It is adaptable to any enclosed printer/enclosure.
[edit] It extract heat via an exchanger, not by extracting air.

Very nice as an add-on on existing printers, but I think printers shall be designed from start with filtration in mind (this is what I have done for mines)

Nice looking unit, shame it does not actually provide heating - it does everything else.]]> DjDemonD General Tue, 10 May 2016 10:34:13 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662299#msg-662299 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662299#msg-662299 3dprintclean.com]
do recirculation AND heat extraction (there is two fans).
It is adaptable to any enclosed printer/enclosure.
[edit] It extract heat via an exchanger, not by extracting air.

Very nice as an add-on on existing printers, but I think printers shall be designed from start with filtration in mind (this is what I have done for mines)]]> PRZ General Tue, 10 May 2016 09:45:46 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662290#msg-662290 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662290#msg-662290
Quote
foul_owl
Having the room be ventilated isn't enough?

You need filters also?

I think it depends how well ventilated. The ideal from a health and safety point of view would be an enclosure with venting to the exterior. But even this has issues, if you have an enclosure you'll want to heat it, an external vent will cool the enclosure (unless you want to get really fancy and have a heat recovery unit too - maybe print one?). I print indoors in winter as its too cold in the garage for the printers to function normally. For one of my printers that is not enclosed I have an air cleaner (hepa/charcoal) unit in the room to minimise pollution.

Having a large window open would also work, but then drafts will affect your prints.

The option I settled on with the most positives is an enclosure with a recirculating system, air is drawn from the enclosure passed through HEPA and charcoal then returned to the enclosure, the airflow can be quite low and the filtration efficiency is quite high as the air is polished repeatedly as it recirculates. This thread will be useful [forums.reprap.org]. As an added bonus if you want to heat your enclosure and need a fan to move the air around you can use a hairdryer to do both (needs a bit of modding to work as they have a thermal cut-out). If you take the air from the top of the enclosure and return it to the bottom you are also equalising the temperatures in the enclosure.
[attachment 77779 addon.jpg]
In the image my rough and ready test of this concept has a vacuum cleaner conical HEPA filter inside the large green cone which is loosely filled with cooker hood activated charcoal beads (cheap and readily available). The air is sucked through this filter by the hairdryer then returned to the base of the enclosure (below the bed to minimise drafts). The hairdryer is modificed with a large diode in series with the heater coil to halve the power by effectively blocking half the AC , and I have drilled a hole above the hairdryer to draw in some cold external air to further keep the thermal cut-out from tripping. It still cuts out occasionally. The hairdryer is controlled by a DC-AC SSR running off my ramps board E1 (2nd extruder) MOSFET, This means the fan and heater reduce in power as the temperature rises towards the optimum 45 deg C. An alternative scheme would be to wire the heater coil in the hairdryer to the SSR leaving the fan to run at full speed. This would solve the problem of the thermal cut out tripping as the air flow would always be high even as the heater power reduced during heat up. Plus this would keep the filtration circuit moving at full speed even when heating was complete and just being maintained. However this means the rather noisy fan runs at full speed all the time, and unlike the system I am using which controls the whole hairdryer I would not be able to automatically shut down the fan when printing completes, only the heater.

I have been thinking what would be a nice thing to make (if I had the time) would be an add-on box containing a fan, a heater, HEPA filter and charcoal (with a LED and dial to set the temperature) with a duct for air in, and a duct for air out that could be connected to the enclosure and wired to a spare digital output on the printer's controller so it could be activated at the start of a print and shut off at the end, that would do all the heating/filtering and recirculating and be able to be turned on/off remotely.]]> DjDemonD General Tue, 10 May 2016 09:25:06 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662275#msg-662275 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662275#msg-662275 DRobs86 General Tue, 10 May 2016 08:37:04 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662120#msg-662120 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662120#msg-662120
You need filters also?]]> foul_owl General Tue, 10 May 2016 00:07:37 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662101#msg-662101 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662101#msg-662101
Gaseous_pollutant_filtration#References [reprap.org]]]> PRZ General Mon, 09 May 2016 21:23:42 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662089#msg-662089 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,662089#msg-662089
I have a significant feeling that the level of MDF dust and general woodwork dust I've swallowed over the years may well be far worse than some ABS fumes in essentially an open area.]]> aussiephil General Mon, 09 May 2016 20:30:45 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661955#msg-661955 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661955#msg-661955 DjDemonD General Mon, 09 May 2016 11:49:36 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661947#msg-661947 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661947#msg-661947 The presence of harmful chemicals alone is not usful information.]]> Srek General Mon, 09 May 2016 11:35:13 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661929#msg-661929 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661929#msg-661929
It is possible that the only fumes dissipated at 190-250c is only water vapour, but that's probably wishful thinking..... If you're worried, stick it the printer in a chamber with an extractor running.

EDIT: I was wrong, turns out there is a study! [www.dezeen.com]

Releases styrene which is carcinogenic.]]> Origamib General Mon, 09 May 2016 11:01:22 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661421#msg-661421 Re: Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661421#msg-661421 VDX General Sat, 07 May 2016 20:01:56 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661416#msg-661416 Are ABS fumes carcinogenic? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,661416,661416#msg-661416
I have my printer in my basement, in its own room, well ventilated. I never go in there unless I'm pulling a print off the bed. However, the room still smells a bit even an hour or so after the print is finished.

I have no short term exposure issues, but I'm wondering if I'm hurting myself in the long term.

Do ABS fumes increase your risk of cancer? If so, what types of cancers? Do we even have enough data to know?

Thanks!]]> foul_owl General Sat, 07 May 2016 19:15:52 -0400