Reddit Thread Reveals Alarming Ignorance of Resin 3D Printer Safety Protocols

My suspicions of resin 3D printer safety ignorance seem to be confirmed in a lengthy thread this week.

I was perusing a Reddit thread discussing an incident of “chemical burns”, and became increasingly concerned as I read through the comments.

As background, resin 3D printing is vastly different than the more common FFF 3D printing with filaments. The biggest difference is that the resins are typically toxic, and require very special handling.

It’s advised that resin 3D printer operators wear PPE to prevent exposure to resin, including nitrile gloves, safety glasses and even a respirator. Exterior ventilation is mandatory.

The problem is that resin exposure does not immediately affect the victim. The body only reacts after repeated exposures where the material builds up. Then, and usually quite suddenly, the victim experiences a range of allergic-like symptoms.

Because of this I have been constantly promoting the safe use of resin 3D printers any time I can. However, I have strong suspicions that there are many resin 3D printer operators that don’t understand this and run their equipment without proper PPE and ventilation.

These fears were confirmed with a recent post on r/ElegooMars subReddit, in which contributor MatixMint wrote:

”So I’ve had my 3D resin printer for a while now. Long story short I made a print and realized I had run out of gloves when I went to take off build plate. Figured “screw it” I’ll handle it bare handed just this once…. Yeah turns out don’t do that. Resin cured under skin in sunlight and gave me 2nd degree chemical burns once it cured in my phalanges.”

And later:

’UPDATE FOR EVERYBODY: yes I washed my hands immediately after I was done handling the print. I may have been stupid for handling the print without gloves in that moment but I like to think I’m not an idiot…. Most of the time anyway… washed hands well with soap and water. Dawn soap and water. Idk if this helped or hurt but I even sprayed my hand with denatured alcohol and washed them a second time after bc I wasn’t sure if soap and water alone would get UV resin off. Idk if that makes me a dumbass but just wanted to have full disclosure. It is what it is. I stand by my mistake. Can’t do shit about it at this point except being more careful and using common sense in the future. I have no regrets.”

The discussion on the thread was quite disturbing. I saw many people dismiss the toxicity concerns. Some examples:

“Well, I always touch the stuff even stirring the cat with my finger. But I’m also smart enough to wash my hands right after. They did warn you though”

“Ashamed to say I never wear gloves and I have a small 3D printing business. Just wash my hands straight after. The worst thing though is biting your nails later that day.”

“I’ve gotten resin all over my hands many times, you wash it off asap.”

”You get use to it :)”

”I’ve touched it plenty of times…but I always wash it off.”

“I’ve touched it for years, I just clean it off afterwards, how did this even happen?”

”I touch it all the time when handling off the plate to start rinse and wash, but I also work with it in a windowless garage and use acetone for clean up and wipe off when I’m done with it.”

“This is insane! I used to handle the sludge with my bare hands and I never had anything bad happen except my eyes watering and me getting sleepy. Now I use gloves a gassmask a fume hood and air filter but this makes no sense to me”

The number of people seemingly ignoring safety precautions was surprising, but then again it’s hard to understand if you don’t get an immediate reaction. This is something that builds up over time and then appears later, sometimes years later.

Fortunately, there were many more posters that seemed to understand the risks and provided varying quality levels of advice for MatixMint. The conclusion seems to be that MatixMint might have had sufficient exposure to trigger toxic reactions when exposed, which happened when they handled wet resin.

I’ve read many stories about individuals that unknowingly exposed themselves to the toxic resin, only to find themselves unable to be even in the presence of resin, let alone touch it.

The advice here is to use ALL resin PPE protocols EVERY TIME you operate a resin 3D printer. No Exceptions!

I believe the resin toxicity issue is eventually going to blow up in the media and cause a great disturbance in sales of inexpensive resin machines to consumers. These machines are almost always not designed for safety and instead focus on low-cost production. I’m hoping there will be a shift in the industry towards more safe designs of machines and materials that minimize toxic exposure.

Via Reddit