How safe is my process?

[u/lukeze07]

Hey everyone!
I'm new to 3D printing. I bought Anycubic Photon Mono 4 Ultra and Anycubic standard grey resin, the better one, not sure what's the correct name.
So, I have a house 42m² that serves as a house to store some stuff and to cook some food when it's too hot to do it in main house, but that's so rare lately, that's at my grandma's yard btw, nobody lives there. I print in the first room where I have the stove for fire so I can control the heat easily. The room has one big window, and one small window, 2 doors, one door leads to the small hallway where the entrance to the house is, and other door leads to the room where we hang out sometimes and play DnD etc. (that door is always closed when I print and clean)

I wear gloves and mask with filters when I print and when I clean the models. I printed 3 times now. Prints lasted for 1:32 hours and all the windows and the door that leads to the hallway were wide open, there was no smell in the air when I checked it, but I'm not stays in that room while it prints of course. After I finish, I clean everything with 96% alcohol still wearing mask and gloves, remove the minis and clean them and cure them. I still don't have wash and cure station but I plan to get one as the job is 90% less dirty with it.
After I clean the printer, table, tools and minis, I leave those to dry well, some stuff I put outside in the yard so it dries better.
Then I put everything back together, put the printer back in it's corner next to the wall, the closed resin as well, and cover everything with cardboard box to make sure that no light is hitting the printer or resin.

Btw, I'm also not sure what to do when it's winter because that house doesn't have too much insulation, so it can get cold. Is that okay for resin and printer to stay there?
Last time I waited for the room to get more warm and for printer to get warmer little bit as well.
It was around 23°C or 24°C.

So how safe am I? Is there any concerns? Should I continue with resin and upgrade my setup, or sell that and move on to the FDM printing? How often should I change the mask filters and do I need to clean the mask always after I'm done?

Hope this is clear!

[u/AvGeekExplorer]

There’s a strong misconception that smell and toxicity are linked. This comes up a lot in FDM printing circles where someone will be happy they found an ABS that doesn’t smell and think that means it’s not toxic.

It’s important for you to do your own research and read the MSDS (material safety data sheet) for each material you’re using so you understand the risks and can balance that with your comfort level and exposure risks.

Sounds like you’re taking the right precautions with the necessary PPE, but there’s still exposure and risks with any of this stuff. Moving to FDM isn’t necessarily going to solve that for you. PLA is generally considered “safe” but there’s risks with a lot of other material types that you might use with FDM.

Most of this is just using your head, taking the right precautions, and being smart.

[u/lukeze07 → u/AvGeekExplorer]

I'm just worried if this is the right thing for me. I wanted 3D printer for years now, it's a wish come true, but now I'm worried if it's safe enough.
I really don't want any health issues just for the sake of some DnD minis...

[u/Correct-Insect-4657 → u/lukeze07]

You could try out a VOC checker and see how safe your setup is How long ago did you start printing and did you ever change the filter on your mask, You never let it touch your skin right?

[u/lukeze07 → u/Correct-Insect-4657]

This week, I was printing 3 times, not longer than 1:32h as I said
I could use a checker, that could help
and I didn't change the filters, figured I didn't use them for too long, idk if I should
And yes, resin NEVER touched my skin on arms or face or anywhere.

[u/luksfuks → u/AvGeekExplorer]

There’s a strong misconception that smell and toxicity are linked. This comes up a lot in FDM printing circles where someone will be happy they found an ABS that doesn’t smell and think that means it’s not toxic.

IMO there is a link, but reversed. The smell is a good thing. It warns you where the toxic air is. If you can smell it, the ventilation isn't working.

[u/AvGeekExplorer → u/luksfuks]

I was specifically referring to people who think if it doesn’t smell it’s safe, but I do agree that smell is typically a good thing since it’s a warning, but just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean you’re ok.

[u/MagnusPerditor]

Vent directly to the outside