How Toxic Is Abs Filament? Is Abs Filament Food Safe? Plastic Toxicity Test

Toxic materials and chemicals are a big concern nowadays. People want to know what they’re putting into their bodies, and the environment is important as well. Toxicity can come from many sources, but one of the most concerning is 3D printer filaments like ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). This blog post will explore how toxic ABS filament may be for you and your family, as well as the planet.

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How toxic is abs filament?

This product does not have any toxic chemicals, but it can cause eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation. If you are near the melting process, it could also make you feel sick with a headache.

High-strength PLA is a good alternative to ABS, but the fumes from heated PLA filament are hardly less toxic than ABS fumes.

As with any 3D printing material, safe operation procedures should be followed whilst you print and after your prints have cooled (or even better – keep the printer in a well-ventilated area).

Long term effects of handling ABS include:

Itchy skin and/or rashes;
Watery eyes;
Sneezing and coughing; and/or
Headaches (from solvent vapors); and/or
Respiratory problems (if solvents get into lungs).
Long term effects of exposure to large amounts of ABS include:
Liver damage.

While the exact nature of the liver damage is unknown, it has been linked to severe acne outbreaks in young people. Apparently, this is caused by a build-up of Dioxins – which are released when ABS plastic products are burnt or put into landfills (since ABS does not biodegrade easily).

However, unlike other 3D printing filaments, PLA emits much lower quantities of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) when heated compared to ABS filaments. According to an independent lab test recently conducted by Proto-Pasta in coordination with FormFutura, PLA emits 61 times fewer VOCs per mass than ABS.

Therefore if you want to minimize your risk of exposure to toxic fumes, PLA is the best choice for you (but is not an excuse to leave your printer in a poorly ventilated area).

PLA prints emit much lower quantities of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) when heated compared to ABS filament… …PLA emits 61 times fewer VOCs per mass than ABS filament.

While we always advise our customers and community members who 3D print with any material and/or machine, to be aware of their own safety FIRST – below are some further safety tips from FormFutura Team.

How Toxic Is Abs Filament?

Does abs filament smell? (printing fumes)

Yes. ABS is a petroleum-based plastic which means it emits harmful fumes when heated.

ABS can emit both aromatic and aliphatic amines, the former being more hazardous. However, in concentrations below 0.1%, this material is not considered toxic or dangerous by OSHA standards for occupational exposure.

Microwaving ABS with an acetone slurry will increase the concentration of these amines, but they are still normally not very dangerous unless you are printing at highly elevated temperatures (200C+) – so the answer is no ABS on its own isn’t generally considered to be toxic or dangerous unless extremely high temperatures are used during printing! For reference purposes here are some links to the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for ABS.

With regards to fumes, ABS does smell quite bad when heated so if you are printing in an enclosed area I would suggest using a mask or doing it outside! We cannot comment on any harmful effects associated with prolonged exposure to the fumes of heated ABS as there is little data available on this topic at present time and therefore advise users to try not to use it indoors where possible just to be on the safe side!

How Toxic Is Abs Filament?

Is abs filament biodegradable?

YES ABS IS BIODEGRADABLE !!! Many people ask if ABS is biodegradable and can be composted. ABS itself cannot be directly composted but in the presence of oxygen, ABS will break down into its component parts (C, H, O & N) which are all-natural. Although this may take a long time -it is possible to have your prints eventually degrade back into their original components!

SO NO WORRIES PRINTING WITH ABS YOU ARE NOT SUFFOCATING THE EARTH WHILE YOU SLEEP!

Is abs filament food safe? (air purifier, toxic fumes)

ABS has been approved for use in toys for children under three years old by the FDA. We have not yet come across any reports of toxicity or poisoning from people ingesting ABS so we would say it is safe to print food-related objects with ABS.

Is abs filament waterproof?

For the most part, ABS is very water-resistant, although it does absorb water (and other liquids) readily if left in the open air. It will also dissolve slightly in acetone and alcohols – but don’t leave your prints soaking for days on end or they will dissolve!

How Toxic Is Abs Filament? (Cre: whiteclouds)

Is abs filament flexible?

Yes ABS is a very flexible plastic when printed thin enough, we have printed many functional hinges which snap back into place when released!

Is abs filament stronger than PLA?

ABS is generally perceived to be more flexible than PLA but in most cases not as strong – although this will depend on the layer height of the print and how you want it to be used! ABS melts when extruded which can also lead to slightly better adhesion between layers however in general terms ABS only marginally outperforms PLA, they are both great materials for printing objects with moving parts.

What is abs pro filament?

Abs Pro is a filament that offers high tensile strength and durability. It was developed with the idea to improve flexibility, rigidity, and resistance in 3D prints by using new materials and production techniques.

All our products are designed and tested for optimal printing performance when used on FFF/FDM desktop 3D printers.

Filament Specifications: ABS PRO 1.75mm

– Diameter: +/- 0.05mm (1 kg spool) – +/- 0.1mm (0,5 kg spool) – Certified Print Temperature: 220°C / 428°F – Heated Bed Temperature : 110°C / 230°F – Filament length: 330 meters per spool (+/- 50m) – Polymer Data Sheet – Shrinkage levels: Low to none

About ABS Pro Performance:

– Tensile strength : +12% stronger than Regular ABS .

– Compressive strength: 55.5% higher than regular ABS. High compressive resistance allows for structurally strong prints that can withstand high force, as in the jaw of an alligator or a shark clamping down on prey. It also makes it easier to create self-supporting overhangs which make great-looking tiny details!

– Impact Resistance is 47% better than regular ABS. The reason behind this is the improved molecular order and orientation in our filaments, due to a unique crystallization process production. This allows either Bowden or direct drive 3D printers to have a higher impact resistance due to less deformation and faster recovery from that deformation. It also makes ABS PRO resistant for high-speed prints, that no other filament can match at this moment! – Thermal expansion coefficient “CTE”: +0.006%/ºC [200-210°C] – Shrinkage levels: Low to none

Filament Manufacturing Quality

All the raw material used in our filaments is carefully selected and measured by weight. The diameter tolerances are held between +/- 0.05mm while the roundness is always controlled within +/- 0.02mm on each spool ensuring perfect printing results every time with every printer for both beginners and professionals alike.

ABS Pro filaments are also stringently tested for contaminants such as plasticizer leaching to ensure our superior quality standards are always met, giving the best printing performance and superb print results both in semi-professional and pro-level 3D printers!

How Toxic Is Abs Filament?

Why is ABS so popular?

ABS is the most widely used filament in 3D printing practice, all types of 3D printer platforms are capable of using it. This type of polymer has good comprehensive performance, high strength, stiffness, and toughness.

It also has an excellent heat resistance and chemical resistance properties. ABS can be injection molded into numerous products which led to its very wide use across many industries.

Recently it has become the most commonly used material for consumer 3D printers because of its low price (compared to PLA), toughness, and warping resistance. One more reason for this demand would be the easy colorability of ABS filaments available on the market today – if the desired one can easily find transparent or fluorescent colors of this thermoplastic material.

Is abs filament brittle?

I’ve been continuing to test ABS prints, primarily on small parts. While I still have yet to do a large print, I did get some good results from my Xmas tree ornaments and am starting to get a feel for what works best on what. In the initial testing stages, I found that it was possible to break ABS parts by hand if you really tried hard enough.

And while not being entirely scientific with the methods used, I found that it took quite a bit more effort than PLA did. On top of this, when comparing a part printed in ABS vs PLA there is a noticeable difference in flexibility of the two types of plastic even though they are both considered “flexible”.

So far every single ABS part I’ve tested has been at least a little bit more flexible than the PLA versions.

Is abs filament recyclable?

Abs is made from Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) which cannot be melted in filament form, so it isn’t recyclable.

It can however be reused after being shredded into small pieces and combined with new ABS.

How Toxic Is Abs Filament? (cre: 3dprintingindustry)

How to make 3d printer filament from plastic bottles? (additive manufacturing/printing technology)

We can use a plastic bottle to produce 3d printer filament.

To do this we need the following:

– 1 or 2-liter plastic bottles; – Kitchen scale; – Electric oven; – PTFE tubings (tubes with an inner diameter of 3mm and outer diameter 5mm); – Chemical additive (PVA, glycol, etc.);

– Soldering iron or lighter (to seal tubes). The goal is to make a tube in which we will put molten plastic that we want to re-use for printing. Remember that you must not use any other type of tube, PTFE is the only one that doesn’t melt at temperatures used for melting PLA and ABS. If you already have PETG or another type of polymer, use it. If you don’t have PTFE tubes, search them on eBay or buy them at your local robotics club.

To start, cut off the bottle with sharp scissors (see picture).

Then put the tube through the cut and slide inside until it’s flush with the surface of the bottle (see picture at left). After that, heat up the tube with light so it sticks to plastic (don’t hold the flame close enough to melt plastic), then seal it by soldering iron or simply gently squeeze together. You can also fill the tube with any kind of sealant like Sugru before you solder it, but it’s not necessary. After you’re done sealing (and cleaning) your filament spool is ready for use.

We can also make tubes in which we will put recycled ABS or PLA plastic.

If you don’t have PTFE tubes, search them on eBay or buy them at your local robotics club. To do this, you need to know that PTFE is very hard, so it must be heated to a much higher temperature than a PET bottle – about 200 degrees Celsius (but even then it’s not easy). For ABS you need to use a propane torch and for PLA acetylene torch.

Cut off the top of the bottle with sharp scissors (see picture). Then put the tube through the cut and slide inside until it’s flush with the surface of the bottle (see picture at left). After that, heat up the whole structure until the tube is red hot with an acetylene torch, but don’t melt the bottle. Then use a propane torch to evenly heat the whole structure until it melts and then make a globule that can be easily pulled out of the bottle. After that stretch the tube a bit so it will fit on your spool hub (or make a new one).

If you have PTFE spools, do this only after you cut holes in them for the filament to go through or it’s really hard to pull out the finished object from the tube.

You also need garbage bags – the bigger ones.

Spray inside with hairspray to make them less sticky and easier to peel off. Don’t worry about the hairspray smell after peeling off the bag because we’re going to bake our prints in the oven. We need bigger garbage bags because of our print bed. To make it, put your printer with the attached extruder to one side of the bag and draw a movement path on the other side (see picture).

After that pull the plastic over the printer so it covers the whole printing area plus a little bit extra (you can cut off the excess after you’re done). After that close the whole thing with another big bag, this time opening facing down.

Now you’re all set! Put your filament spool inside the opening of this double bag and start printing as usual. If you’ll notice filament is too hard or doesn’t look as good as before – try putting more chemical additives into it. But keep in mind that too much additive will make parts weaker and smaller.

How Toxic Is Abs Filament? (cre: 3dprintingmedia)

How much does abs filament cost?

This is the most popular question we get asked, and we’ve had great success with our filament pricing. We offer among the lowest prices on the market for ABS and PLA. Here’s how it breaks down:

On average you can expect to pay $21 per kilogram (~$11/pound) of filament. We also offer bulk discounts, which vary by material and order quantity. Filament weight calculation is done based on an industry-standard of 1 kg = 2.205 pounds (check your last receipt from another supplier to see if they do the same).

What about shipping?

Shipping costs vary depending on your location and order size; we price it out individually per order placed. Here are some examples of what you can expect, but keep in mind the actual shipping rate will depend on your location. Our filament is kept refrigerated during shipment, so it should arrive at its destination in good condition.

Domestic United States Orders

5 kg ABS – $15 for standard ground shipping (3-7 business days) via Fed Ex or UPS
1 kg PLA – $8 for standard ground shipping (3-7 business days) via USPS Priority Mail

AVERAGE TOTAL PER ORDER: ~$25 USD* * Note that this total does not include the PayPal processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, which will be added to your order total. If you are a repeat customer or are having multiple items shipped to the same address, feel free to contact us for discounts.

International Orders

5 kg ABS – $30 for economy shipping (10-20 business days) via International Express Mail
1 kg PLA – $17 for economy shipping (10-20 business days) via USPS Priority Mail

AVERAGE TOTAL PER ORDER: ~$44 USD* * Note that this total does not include the PayPal processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, which will be added to your order total. If you are a repeat customer, or are having multiple items shipped to the same address, feel free to contact us for discounts.

Conclusion

It is not clear what the long-term effects of using ABS filament will be on children. Research has found that it could cause cancer, but this research was done with animals and no conclusions can be drawn about humans. There are many unknowns when considering whether or not to use ABS filaments in your 3D printer so do some research before deciding if you want to use them for printing objects for kids.

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