Health and environmental aspects of additive manufacturing and challenges for a sustainable production 3 - HÄMAT3

Important results from the project

1. Relevant health check-ups implemented - partly achieved 2. Own emission measurements in workshops and labs implemented - partly achieved 3. Airborne particles captured - achieved 4. Assured toxicity of particles in emissions by complementary analysis - achieved 5. Informal exposure limits for AM established - achieved 6. Measures to prevent occupational exposure implemented - achieved 7. Best practice for safe AM working environment established and broadcasted - achieved 8. Increased awareness of health hazards in AM and mitigations - achieved 9. Successful project - achieved

Expected long term effects

The project achieved (or partly achieved) all of its goals. Improvements were made on products from the AM machine manufacturers. Overall, health of the workers in the workshops were already good during HÄMAT1-2. The project still substantially improved the environment of many workshops and labs in Sweden. Among workers in metal AM workshops, the measured metal content in urine dropped between HÄMAT2 and HÄMAT3. This is a reliable indicator that the work environment improved, which more specifically owes to effective precautions such as confinement, ventilation, and PPE.

Approach and implementation

HÄMAT1-3 was a collaboration between research institutes, universities, industrial companies, companies that work with measuring instruments, ventilation, health checks, recycling, etc. The entire value chain for AM is represented among the industrial companies. Together, we observed little or no short-term health effects on workers at these companies. Despite this, we have investigated many aspects of the work environment and improved it, which we have verified by checking exposure markers. Any long-term health effects will diminsh as a results.