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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1582690
This article is part of the Research Topic Mineral Particles and Fibers and Human Health Risks: State-of-the-Art in Characterization, Analysis, Tissue Analytics, Exposure Thresholds for Risk, Epidemiology, and Risk Assessment for Science-Based Regulation and Disease Prevention and Implications for Occupational Health and Safety View all 5 articles
The size distribution of nanoparticles emitted from advanced manufacturing devices impacts predicted carcinogenic potential
Provisionally accepted- 1 ITA International, Blacksburg, United States
- 2 Chemistry & Industrial Hygiene, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, United States
Advanced manufacturing devices such as 3D printers bring users into closer contact with processes that generate ultrafine particles or release engineered nanomaterials. While approaches to assessing the risk of lung carcinogenesis and related health effects are developing, serious questions exist regarding the impact such devices may have on human health and safety if proper actions (i.e., engineering controls including ventilation or filtration) are not taken to mitigate exposures. The size distribution of particulates emitted during fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing was measured following the ANSI/CAN/UL 2904 method and associated lung cancer risk was estimated through a developing model. Particulate morphologies were assessed, identifying agglomerative and morphological characteristics which may further impact health effects. The estimation of excess lung cancer risk for 3D printer emissions based upon particle size was found to vary according to aerodynamic diameter distribution and emitted concentration, with values projected as high as 468 cases per 10,000 workers in the measured exposure scenario (1 m 3 enclosure with air fully exchanged once per hour); predicted excess lung cancer risk was found to drop significantly as print extrusion temperature decreased. Actual health impacts will depend highly upon the exposure scenario, as room air volume, ventilation, and number of printers in operation will impact the concentration of particulates present. This model provides a means for assessing excess lung cancer risk across a broad aerodynamic diameter distribution, improving resolution over methods that use a single particle size bin such as PM2.5 or PM10. The effects of particle composition are only anecdotally considered in this model, however; this limitation should be accommodated as the model is implemented in practical settings.
Keywords: 3D printing, Particulates, Carcinogenic potential, excess lung cancer risk, PM2.5, PM10, advanced manufacturing
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hill and Korchevskiy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
W. Cary Hill, ITA International, Blacksburg, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.