Can FDM 3D Prints be Food Safe?

This video takes a quick look at some of the reasons why FDM 3D prints are not food safe and how to solve those issues.

Help support the channel by following the links below 👇

Bambu Lab X1-Carbon Printer Add-ons:

Resin Printing Setup:

FAVORITE TOOLS:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

About Bambu Lab: "Bambu Lab is a consumer tech company focusing on desktop 3D printers. Starting with the X1 series, Bambu Lab builds state-of-the-art 3D printers that break the barriers between the digital and physical worlds, bringing creativity to a whole new level. "

[alexsalchemy]

Layer lines are not your downfall! You can address those too! To print food safe things with my FDM machine, I use HIPS plastic from Filamentum (which they certify as food safe) with a stainless steel nozzle. Then I vapor smooth the layer lines using limonene, which is not a harsh chemical and is actually used in small quantities as a flavoring agent in some drinks. All issues addressed!

[shaneavenius]

you could also probably use a material like PSU or PPSU that can go in a dishwasher to solve that last issue.

[Grimbach]

For sake of argument let's say that a nozzle can lose 10% of its mass to erosion before its print quality is unacceptably low and it needs to be replaced. That means over its lifetime it can dump a harmful amount of lead into your prints - 4 mg. However, if you're able to get multiple prints out of a nozzle, that's going to be spread out over its lifetime. If you can get a hundred prints before replacing your nozzle, that means we're down to 0.04 mg lead per part - most of which will be sequestered inside and not on the surface. If we again pluck a number out of thin air and say that 10% of that will leech into your food over time, we're down to 0.004 mg - 4 micrograms. If one expected that leeching to happen all at once - dumping its fully fury into the very first it comes into contact with - you could simply wash it.

Now with all that said, if I were to open a restaurant with the shtick that all the dishes were 3d printed, I'd still use stainless steel nozzles to avoid any liability. But for home use? As a gimmick I'm only going to use a few times? I think a brass nozzle is far less hazardous than printing with the wrong filament or bacterial growth.

[jawaligt]

It's not really clear to me why so many people consider something that contains layer lines to not be food safe. It seems to me that there are many kitchen utensils with little surfaces, nooks and crannies that are of similar size as layer lines, yet we use and clean those without problems. Sometimes certain areas of blenders, food processors etc are actually impossible to clean. Sometimes plastic parts will have a 'scratchy' surface that under a microscope are formed similar to layer lines.

Now surely all of that might be problematic in itself, but sometimes it's as if standards go way up when we're talking about 3d printed parts.

The same thing goes for brass really. There are many brass kitchen implements and utensils on the market.

I do the argument about filament materials holds merit. Many manufacturers provide close to zero information about the recipe and additives, and even when they do it's unclear how clean the production process is. So probably best to opt for something the manufacturer guarantees is food safe.

[RandomSmith]

A bigger concern for most people would be lead in brass plumbing connections before worrying about lead in 3d printer nozzles, having said that like you say, if it costs similar amount for a brass vs steel nozzle - why not go for the stainless steel one...

[punkkap]

Thank you! Informative. PETG might be one of the best choices for filament, as it can be washed in a dishwasher.

[Marcel_Pater]

What people seem to not understand is that it is not safe or unsafe, there is a huge grey area. Usually the coloring is most critical when it comes to leaching chemicals. To truly be food safe you need to know exactly what is in your material, and a range of other data such as the expexted usage/time of using. Some injection molded sauce caps are only safe in combination with a minimum content in a bottle for example, and an expexted lifetime of 6 months.

[core]

how about decreasing the layer height? on my bambulab i can set a layer height of 0.08mm on a 0.4mm nozzle or 0.06mm on a 0.2mm nozzle, maybe even less with custom parameters. would this be enough of a "smooth" surface?

[LeviathanDPrinting]

Great video but I have a few disagreements. They are not certified food safe. There is no regulatory agency with any standards on FDM 3D printing food safety. No company can independently audit and thus "certify" food safety in accordance with any regulations. They simply do not exist. Companies can put forth their best efforts but I would be careful saying they're "certified". My first question is by whom?

[towers]

Thank you so much for the short, straight-to-the-point delivery with this video!

[ryanskinner]

Do hardened steel nozzles/nozzle-x contain any lead? I've been using SS nozzles for years but have struggled to find anything about hardened steel containing lead

[mundhiral-kiyumi]

If I was using this for hydroponic towers. ? Will it be a problem?

[Hacoli]

What if heat is applied to food safe PLA to melt the layer lines to a glossy finish?

[ww-pwdi]

Also something to consider is all of the plastic/micro/macro plastic fibers that are created during printing that will end up in the food which has now, at least partially, been shown to result in very serious even life long gastrointestinal issues by becoming embedded in the lining that can ultimately require very invasive surgery (removing the whole colon). It's not an exclusively FDM issue, but at the same time why risk just for the sake of using 3D printed parts with food.

[KevinJonson]

Alright, don't eat the brass nozzle. Got it.

[AlexTCGProYT]

1. Use any material you want
2. Coat the print in food grade epoxy
3. Done

[jamesdolph]

so how much brass is in your home water supply ... also how much lead in the form of solder ... just asking

[BOTmaster]

0:25 that would be enough for nogo about printing for something has contact with food.
You wont escape from this problem no matter what. Only solution that would solve this is to use petg
and clean that with alcohol bath and leave it under uv lamp. I had printed few things for a friend that was working in a hospital while covid hit hard. He said that my prints (printing petg in highier temp range without fans) were good enough that they didnt qualify to throw out after first usage (or rather cleaning).

[kandrotas]

could you make the walls 3-5 layers thick and hit it with a low power heat gun to smooth them out?

[nvrprfct]

look up "Sanitization efficacy for safe use of 3D-printed parts for food and medical applications by matt thomas"