Carbon In My Skin. These Wounds, They Will Not Heal.

The links in this description may be affiliate or tracking links. I may earn a commission on sales made through these links.
The links in this description may be affiliate or tracking links. I may earn a commission on sales made through these links.

0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Carbon Fiber Printed Part
1:35 - Clearcoating
2:28 - Macro Photos
2:57 - Pop Quiz
4:16 - SirayaTech ABS GF Seems Pretty Nice
4:55 - Bambu Lab PA CF
5:15 - Creality Hyper PLA CF
6:34 - Tape Does Not Remove Them
7:17 - Birch Wood Fiber Filament
7:34 - Ebony Wood Fiber Filament
8:00 - Polymaker PC-FR
8:23 - PRUSAMENT Galaxy Black PLA
8:46 - Sunlu Tricolor Silk PLA
8:57 - FLSUN White PLA
9:01 - Conclusions from Filament Analysis
9:37 - Loose Powder on HP MJF Parts
10:50 - Solution to Loosely Bound Powder
11:08 - Loose Powder from SLS Parts
11:45 - Do Your Own Research
12:09 - FDM Doesnt Seem So Bad
12:24 - Flame Polishing Helps
13:08 - Are Nanotubes Bad
13:59 - We Need Transparency
14:46 - How to Deal With it Soot
15:07 - It is all pointless
15:33 - Retractions and Floating Threads
15:57 - Filter Paper
16:37 - Learning and Leaning on the community
17:33 - Channel Direction Going Forward

Sovol SV-08
Bambu Lab A1 P1P P1S X1C
Creality Ender 3 K1 K2

[ericlotze]

Instructions unclear, made Asbestos Reinforced Filament

[DrJuanTaco]

Embedded into the skin isnt a big deal you're covered in about an 11 layer barrier of dead cells before you get to the first layer of living dermis, and you shed outwards. The real problem is probably all of that that gets into the lungs.

[ShirozawaDesura]

Me *looking at the spot in my palm where I accidentally stabbed myself with a mechanical pencil when I was a child and still has the mark*: Yeah I’ve kinda noticed.

[gruvinnz]

I have a microscope. I also now have carbon and glass fibre stuck in several of my fingers! THANK YOU for bringing this to our attention!

[benrampolla]

For what its worth, if you have a memory foam mattress, its embedded with fiberglass for fire safety. It wasn’t a problem with my bed until I took a factory mattress cover off (which had a zipper but according to the manufacturer is not intended to be removed) but I’ve seen a lot of memory foam mattresses with fiberglass sticking through the manufacturers covers. Not saying filament isn’t a risk, but there’s probably larger sources that you don’t even know about. Education is the solution imo- fibers have a risk, and knowing when a product contains them and how to handle them safely should be better disclosed.

[cexinho]

next step, get a very thin but mildly dense piece of a filter, reverse the flow of a part cooling fan and place the filter there to then see it under the microscope so we can see what particles are actually flying around mid print

[PostMeridianLyf]

When I was a kid my asian friend said 'don't touch the top of the bamboo' as I had already placed my hands directly onto the top parts of the plant. Millions of little fibers entered the palms of my hands and I couldnt touch anything for a few days from the pain.

I laugh at it now but wonder if there are better alternatives for the fibers being used in your filament

[GhostlyGnome-iqwl]

I worked in the asbestos abatement industry. It would be interesting to see a professional air quality report conducted on a 3d printing room. The air quality technician would set up a small air pump or two in your room and collect samples over a day or two. After witch an analysis is conducted at a qualified lab to determine if the air quality is acceptable or not due to the ppm of airborne particulates being to high. A quick search led me to a Scientific America article from 2008 "Study Says Carbon Nanotubes as Dangerous as Asbestos". Although most filaments are made with carbon fibers, I think is important to consider. I think your doing great work Nathan. I am way more interested in this type of content then printer reviews so I think your decision to change your focus is a solid choice! Your videos with the printer you built set my creative imagination a buzz.

[rwizard]

My greatest fear is getting it in my lungs. Some years ago a well known member of the amateur telescope making community died of silicosis from breathing the dust created by grinding and polishing mirrors.. Your video has me thinking about buying a respirator, but I don't think getting this in your skin is a great idea either. Anyone have insights about using gloves? Would they help, or just become loaded with fibers and exacerbate the problem? And if gloves are helpful, what type? I think respirator and also glove tests would make great future topics for this channel. Thanks for this video. After playing with 3D printing years ago and then dropping out, I just ordered a Bambu X1C for a family member to use, so finding this video this evening was greatly appreciated. Thanks..

[rupertmiller]

Take a tip from boat builders and F1 engineers, they wear gloves when handling carbon fibre and glass fibre. 50 years ago they didn't but they have learnt. Actually the fibres from woven carbon are too thin to cause a wound but can become embedded.

[bluesteel]

Ever since I got into 3D printers, I learned about the micro plastic problem and decided to mitigate it by isolating my printers in a garage with vents sucking air out. I also wear a p100 respirator anytime I’m in the garage if they’re running. I only use pla+, Lw-Pla, Petg, and tpu. I’m glad you made this video. It’s hard to avoid plastic exposure since it’s literally everywhere and in/on everything. But you can’t 3d print a new pair of lungs.

[sadboidex]

these videos need to go viral. the 3d printing community needs to be aware. wheres Joel 👀

[Taiko_Drum]

I get it, the title, Linkin park, Crawling. Nice one LOL

[JanKopanski]

Things make so much more sense now. Everytime I've handled CF filament my hands were always a bit itchy and I thought I was going crazy but this explains it.

[BESTofAlp]

This topic is more important than anything else in 3d printing.

[ath_greek]

a channel that cares for your health 🙏

[ajlbeer]

Great job, thanks for doing this. Resin printing is fascinating to me in terms of a lack of regulation, and how it's so common now for engineering grade chemicals to be handled by consumers with zero education on safe handling. Additionally, the idea that so many people are selling their prints on etsy and other marketplaces to unsuspecting customers. A friend of mine bought some 3d printed super hero figures on a market place that slowly began to crack and then leaked uncured resin on a mantle in his kid's bedroom. It's a free for all out there, and nobody has even said "buyer beware".

[TheFish]

For a human skin analogue. Try using something made of silicone. Preferably a lighter tone for the carbon fiber and perhaps a darker one for glass fiber. That might help with visibility. You could even cast one in a mold made of one of your fingers to make sure the surface of the analogue has a similar texture.

[MrDanDizz]

This needs more attention, many are still saying stuff like "PLA IS SAFE" and other fillament, but who actually knows what the chinese manufacturers put in the fillaments and how much they really care about health effects from residue etc. Just like everything else, do your own research, and be smart. Great video, we need to push this topic more out there for our own sake. Still see too many people running even 3d print farms without any ventilation, enclosure or anything. Research doesn't have a long term effect results yet.

[AlexRian_]

I have extensive experience with composites and already shared my experience regarding 3d printing CF filaments under the last video. So far the information indicates the following:

To enter the lung and trigger serious issues (such as asbestos), fibers must have a diameter of less than 3um and a length of 10um or more (yes, there is a minimum length required - not a maximum as is the case with the diameter).
Mechanically processing carbon fiber composites fractures the fibers and can contain some fiber fragments that can enter the lung. The ratio of fibers that can enter the lung and those that cant is a lot better compared to asbestos. So the risk should be lower and that is the result shown in some studies as well.

The plastics used in 3D printing seem to have a worse bonding to the fibers, so when printing and handling the parts, the risk of fibers breaking up into thin and fine fragments that can enter the lung is likely a lot lower. Sanding 3D printed CF parts might also produce less dangerous dust, because the milled carbon fibers used in the filament will be freed from the plastic before they break apart. There are no solid studies on this, so this is still a bit theoretical and based on some sparse information and a general understanding of the properties of carbon fiber composites.

Glass fibers are even thicker than carbon fibers - so even farther away from the 3um threshold below which the fibers could enter the lungs. On top of that the general consensus is that mineral and glass fibers have a rather low persistence in the body and lungs. They can be dissolved and removed by the body. this removes the extremely long persistence in the body that is assumed to be a major factor in the mechanism to create cancer. 

Therefore glass fiber parts are very very likely a lot safer than carbon fiber and carbon fiber itself is a lot less critical than asbestos. It is still a good idea to protect yourself when working with carbon fiber filaments and parts, but according to current knowledge it is by far not on the same level as asbestos.