<p>I'm trying to work out what filament is absolutely safe for prolonged contact with someones face. The contact may be for hours at a time and it's in terms of a facemask so they'll be breathing through it as well.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-06T20:29:13.923Z
prolonged contact with face will pretty much always cause bad things.  it beats prolonged contact with eyes though (glasses vs contacts).  as for material safety itself, plastics and silicones tend to be considered enough to touch skin.  do you plan to incorporate toxic pigmentation into your plastic as some toys did once upon a time?
Abel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-06T20:34:10.417Z
@Abel no, no painting or anything like that, I'm just trying to work out if I'll need to line the masks with cloth or something.
Kilisi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-06T20:41:58.650Z
although it shouldn't be done in this day and age, it is possible to melt toxic additives into plastic for the purpose of giving it a color rather than just to color the outside of the plastic.  do also beware of print settings as microplastics breaking off a print would not be good to breathe.  ie anything can become harmful under the right conditions.
Abel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-06T20:56:20.777Z
@Abel all filaments seem to be coloured, is that what you mean? Never seen any raw filament
Kilisi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-06T21:03:22.893Z
raw pla is a clearish white.  raw abs is a fugly cream color.  i never got any filament containing toxic pigment but i dealt with enough out-of-spec material (metal) that I'd ask the supplier and thoroughly test a first article before making a product i sold.  want of repeat business usually exceeds want to cut corners.
Abel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-06T21:55:47.363Z
@Abel thanks for the info, I have never printed anything, trying to get it right before we order the printers
Kilisi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T13:28:35.467Z
medical products require certification that is even *higher standard* than food-packaging! related: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/6941/8884
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T16:46:58.683Z
The search term for finding the right material is “biocompatible”.  They should have a certification and safety data sheet. 

There are also some antibacterial filaments that would resist germs incubating in all of the cracks and voids and layer lines. Expect to pay 3x-4x as much as regular filament.
ChinchillaWafers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T20:50:10.860Z
@ChinchillaWafers excellent, you should make that as an answer it's useful for people to know. I've found some good looking filaments online after your suggestion and will do some research
Kilisi
<safety><filament-choice><medical>
Filament suitable for medical masks
Kilisi
# Filament suitable for medical masks

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-06)

I'm trying to work out what filament is absolutely safe for prolonged contact with someones face. The contact may be for hours at a time and it's in terms of a facemask so they'll be breathing through it as well.

**Tags:** safety, filament-choice, medical

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: prolonged contact with face will pretty much always cause bad things.  it beats prolonged contact with eyes though (glasses vs contacts).  as for material safety itself, plastics and silicones tend to be considered enough to touch skin.  do you plan to incorporate toxic pigmentation into your plastic as some toys did once upon a time?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 no, no painting or anything like that, I'm just trying to work out if I'll need to line the masks with cloth or something.  
> **username_1**: although it shouldn't be done in this day and age, it is possible to melt toxic additives into plastic for the purpose of giving it a color rather than just to color the outside of the plastic.  do also beware of print settings as microplastics breaking off a print would not be good to breathe.  ie anything can become harmful under the right conditions.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 all filaments seem to be coloured, is that what you mean? Never seen any raw filament  
> **username_1**: raw pla is a clearish white.  raw abs is a fugly cream color.  i never got any filament containing toxic pigment but i dealt with enough out-of-spec material (metal) that I'd ask the supplier and thoroughly test a first article before making a product i sold.  want of repeat business usually exceeds want to cut corners.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 thanks for the info, I have never printed anything, trying to get it right before we order the printers  
> **username_2**: medical products require certification that is even *higher standard* than food-packaging! related: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/6941/8884  
> **username_3**: The search term for finding the right material is “biocompatible”.  They should have a certification and safety data sheet.   There are also some antibacterial filaments that would resist germs incubating in all of the cracks and voids and layer lines. Expect to pay 3x-4x as much as regular filament.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 excellent, you should make that as an answer it's useful for people to know. I've found some good looking filaments online after your suggestion and will do some research  

---

## 0 answers

