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Carbon Fiber is the new Asbestos. Ask anyone who works with the stuff, and I wisened up after I used to print with Carbon Fiber PLA, one day I looked at my hand

Carbon Fiber is the new Asbestos. Ask anyone who works with the stuff, and I wisened up after I used to print with Carbon Fiber PLA, one day I looked at my hands under a microscope and was horrified to see microscopic little carbon fibers embedded all over my hands. Washing my hands just spread them around. They were embedded deep in my hands, all over work surfaces and probably floating in the air. Horrifying!

rajnathani 1y ago
Very interesting, thanks for sharing your experience. But maybe this is the case for carbon fiber based filaments only (i.e. this is likely <1% of carbon-fiber as the use-case of 3D printing carbon fiber based hybrid plastic filaments is a new thing), and that most real-world carbon fiber is in the form of flat sheets whereby I doubt there are strands coming out.
potato3732842 1y ago
I haven't heard of carbon fiber itself causing much cancer. There's a little chatter about carbon nanotubes potentially causing cancer but that's more of a "this looks sus" thing than a "this def causes cancer" thing. I'm sure you could use CF with cancerous plastics or whatever but that seems like a stretch. But then I realized people screech about asbestos far in excess of the actual risk it poses, and here someone is screeching about CF. So it kind of is like asbestos in that way. Task failed successfully I guess.
- blacksmith_tb 1y ago
  I am not sure that's an entirely fair comparison, there's plenty of data on how dangerous asbestos is (if it's disturbed - lots of it is hanging around in walls etc. and not causing trouble... yet...) CF is less well-studied, though of course we have lots of carbon compounds in our bodies, unlike scratchy silicates, which might suggest it should cause us less harm. But it'd be good to have the research to confirm that.
deleted 1y ago
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vishalontheline 1y ago
Isn't this true for regular old fiberglass as well? We often see people working with those materials wear protective equipment (full coveralls, breathing / eye protection).

rajnathani 1y ago

Very interesting, thanks for sharing your experience. But maybe this is the case for carbon fiber based filaments only (i.e. this is likely <1% of carbon-fiber as the use-case of 3D printing carbon fiber based hybrid plastic filaments is a new thing), and that most real-world carbon fiber is in the form of flat sheets whereby I doubt there are strands coming out.

potato3732842 1y ago

I haven't heard of carbon fiber itself causing much cancer. There's a little chatter about carbon nanotubes potentially causing cancer but that's more of a "this looks sus" thing than a "this def causes cancer" thing. I'm sure you could use CF with cancerous plastics or whatever but that seems like a stretch. But then I realized people screech about asbestos far in excess of the actual risk it poses, and here someone is screeching about CF. So it kind of is like asbestos in that way. Task failed successfully I guess.

blacksmith_tb 1y ago
I am not sure that's an entirely fair comparison, there's plenty of data on how dangerous asbestos is (if it's disturbed - lots of it is hanging around in walls etc. and not causing trouble... yet...) CF is less well-studied, though of course we have lots of carbon compounds in our bodies, unlike scratchy silicates, which might suggest it should cause us less harm. But it'd be good to have the research to confirm that.

deleted 1y ago

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vishalontheline 1y ago

Isn't this true for regular old fiberglass as well? We often see people working with those materials wear protective equipment (full coveralls, breathing / eye protection).