(in German)

Prototypes, tools and industrial components are more and more produced by additive manufacturing, which is also known as 3D printing. For this reason, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) investigated workers' exposure to hazardous substances which originate from the raw materials or may result e.g. as decomposition products such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The investigation program was focussed on additive manufacturing using powder-bed processes. Workplace measurements took place in ten enterprises. Most of them used metallic alloy powders and to a lesser extent polymer powders. Both, personal air sampling and stationary sampling was performed. Primarily, exposure to the respirable and inhalable particle fraction and their constituents has been mea sured. With the exception of one polymer powders processing enterprise, the occupational exposure limit values (OELVs) for both, the inhalable and the respirable particle fraction were adhered to. In some cases, exceedings of the assessment criteria for metals and their compounds as constituents of the released dust have been observed during processing of metal alloy powders. Based on the results of the investigation and the observed working conditions in the enterprises, recommendations have been derived to ensure safe handling of hazardous substances during additive manufacturing.

This article is published in the Journal "Gefahrstoffe - Reinhaltung der Luft", Volume 81, Issue 1-2, pp. 53-59.

Please download the article "Investigation of the concentration of airborne particles during filling of containers with bulk material" (in German only).