I ask the support team last week about food grade filimats, no reply yet. I’m wondering if anyone has used food grade filaments with he X1… and what your thoughts are. I’m wanting this for a vertical grow tower
The filimate I’m looking at is:
Certified Food Grade PETG 3D Printer Filament - Carbon Brand - Lab Tested FDA Compliant Food Safe, 1.75mm, 1kg, Temp: (Nozzle 220°C - 260°C, Bed: 0°C/60°C - 80°C), Accuracy: +/- 0.02 (White)
Just because a filament is marketed as food safe does not mean that whatever you print with it is automatically safe to use with food. The concern arises when 3d printed objects have uneven surfaces that can trap microbes. So while it may not leach anything toxic into food that it contacts (food-safe), once it has been used with food, it may be impossible to clean adequately so that it does not harbor pathogens in any crevices. I have no research papers to support that, I’m only repeating generic concerns that are being passed around the 3d printing community.
Not really a concern anymore as most of the food safe filaments self heal with the additives with silicone properties, there’s a lot to keep up with I know
I see a number of Certified Food Safe filaments on Amazon PETG and PLA+, question is has anyone used these and have a product recommendation?
Also keep in mind that even if the filament was perfectly food safe, the parts of the printer that touch the filament (feed tubes, AMS, hot end, nozzle) are not certified as such. I’m not saying they’re going to kill you, just not certified as such.
This.
Expose a print to something that harbors bacteria, you’re basically making your own little petri dish. Print surfaces are filled with micro sized pockets and cracks that bacteria will love as a habitat, provided they have a little moisture and something to eat.
3D printed eating implements should be treated as one-time use items. Like plastic forks and paper plates…
So I hadn’t heard about filament with silicone additives, but I’m wondering if vapor smoothing or annealing might reliably remove any micro sized pockets or cracks?
The key word in your question is “reliably”. I don’t think there’s any way to achieve that metric.
3D FFF has been around for better than a decade now, but no one is producing food implements using the technology, and that’s probably for a good reason.
While the statement that 3D printed parts cannot be cleaned and used safely for food contact is often repeated, the science is not necessarily in agreement. See https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373174194_Sanitation_Effectiveness_of_3D-printed_Parts_for_Food_and_Medical_Applications where the authors tested several 3D printed parts for their ability to be cleaned with regular soapy warm water, baking soda, IPA, and/or vinegar.
Their results indicate that the PLA, PLA+, and PETG parts, printed on 3 different printers, can be cleaned quite well and can be considered food contact safe from a contamination point of view. They also compared to glass, a metal spoon, and a typical plastic chopping board. The 3D printed parts could be cleaned just as well as the metal spoon and clearly better than the plastic chopping board (all this in terms of reduction in “Colony Forming Units” of pathogens). They do recommend to coat parts that hold liquids with resin.
If you are interested in the food safety of 3D printed parts please read the article (and perhaps look for other related studies) to inform yourself. Besides the results, it’s interesting to read how they clean stuff so you can evaluate whether this matches your expected practices or not.
I think some folks are missing this part. If I understand correctly the part that @baerrs wants to print will be filled with dirt/hydroponic media and doesn’t have to be food safe in respect to direct food contact. I think the OP was more worried about the plastic leaching into their grow media?
You’re probably right. I didn’t quite understand the connection between a grow tower and food safe. The paper I linked to refers to having done a mass spectrometer analysis and “No contamination from lead or other heavy metals and toxins were present”. Of course there’s way more than metals that could leach.
Overview of FDA Attention PDF download link: PDF Footnote 1*
By important notes, I will adjust the first post here:
Footnote 1* This link got the award “popular link”. Unfortunately the URL for the link no longer existed and I have updated it on the following date: 19.12.2024
The nozzle temperatures are higher than most dry heat sterilizers used in the Pharma industry. (Typically 160c to 170 C). I’ve done calibrations on one that went up to 200C. Which means if you wipe the externals beforehand and sterilize the plate with alcohol, there should be no issue with biological contamination during the build.
Just make sure the old filament is flushed well.
Plastic molecules are too big to make it through the root system and into the plants. Couple of videos on this topic on youtube I’ve watched, and a study I’ve read.
@Quietman Sterile isn’t the only factor. Brass can contain lead, there might be lubricants around. The parts of the printer are not certified to only have food safe materials.
The X1 has a hardened steel nozzle. Will agree on the lubricants, However, there are a number of food safe high temperature lubricants that can be substituted which are approved by the FDA.
There’s still a big difference between having all food safe materials around and actually being certified as food safe.
I have no expertise in this area and only because I really like Quiedmann. The list is incomplete and there is no guarantee of completeness or correctness at all:
Just 2 examples:
“‘Flood’ of toxic Chinese toys threatens children’s health - EEB - The European Environmental Bureau”
“In this season of giving, watch out for harmful chemicals in plastic toys | University of Michigan News”
I won’t explain what a type test is. What does the certificate say? Was it a manufacturer check, a batch check, a one-off check of a sample selected and sent by the manufacturer himself?
Notified Body certification process by euronorm.net
In the best case scenario, you can find a connection to a Notified Body - follow the names of the testing companies on certificates that have confirmed something. e.G. Manufacturer A checked by Company B - Company B checked by Company C, Company C with NoBo function (NoBo`s Represents National Authority assined by a government)?
Regulations are always accessible and transparent for everyone - so there is no need for explanations. Just 3 examples:
I’m wondering if you got a reply? Also chiming in as I’ve been printing on an A1 Mini with Filaments.ca’s True Food Safe PETG with great success. After a couple adjustment prints, it’s been printing great through 0.2-0.6 nozzles also.