Evaluation of pulmonary effects of 3-D printer emissions from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene using an air-liquid interface model of primary normal human-derived bronchial epithelial cells

This study investigated the inhalation toxicity of the emissions from 3-D printing with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament using an air-liquid interface (ALI) in vitro model. Primary normal human-derived bronchial epithelial cells (NHBEs) were exposed to ABS filament emissions in an ALI for 4 h. The mean and mode diameters of ABS emitted particles in the medium were 175 ± 24 nm and 153 ± 15 nm, respectively. The average particle deposition per surface area of the epithelium was 2.29 × 107 ± 1.47 × 107 particle/cm2, equivalent to an estimated average particle mass of 0.144 ± 0.042 µg/cm2.