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A few weeks ago, I posted a rather gruesome picture on FaceBook. It was a picture of my leg, with second-degree chemical burns. These nasty, painful burns had been caused by exposure to the resin that I had spilt on myself when I was moving an SLA printer into my new facility, and mistakenly continued to work for a while rather than cleaning up my exposed skin.
The photos were posted as a resin safety reminder, but I was amazed at the response to the post. While the majority of people took the post as what it was intended to be- A warning about a genuine threat that many haven’t thought about- Others accused me of fearmongering, exaggerating, and outright lying. The stories, photos and, the danger is real.
The Accident- What happened
First, let me make it clear that this isn’t a ‘normal’ injury. There were a set of circumstances and choices that turned what should have been a non-event into a painful wound for me. Had I done what I SHOULD have done, and removed the spilt resin right away, I’d have likely had no more than some red, irritated skin.
I should have removed the resin vats from all the printers before moving them. And, For the most part, I did. For some reason, I overlooked this one printer. And, it sloshed out of the tank and dripped out of the front of the printer. Some were spilt on my bare arms, and on to my shorts and shirt as well. I was worried that the resin would get down inside the printer and cause problems. So- I cleaned it first. It’s an expensive machine, after all. Besides, I only got a LITTLE resin on me- and I’ve never had any real problems with it. I’ll be fine. Right?
I continued to work that day, after changing to clean clothes. Other than some minor irritation, there was no problem at all. I then worked most of the next day, but then the burning started. I could see the blisters form and enlarge then I went to the Emergency Room and got immediately sent to a burn centre. 2nd degree burns on about 10% of my body- Legs, Arms, and stomach.
For those who have chosen not to ‘believe’ my story, here is an excerpt from the hospital report from my visit-
The Treatment
Because of the concerns of developing scar tissue, they needed to scrape the dead skin and blisters off. Because of the extent of the damage, I had to be anaesthetised for the procedure. They scoured the tissue, then applied Cadaver skin to it, and then bandaged it up.
The bandages had to stay on, and dry- Which meant no showers even though we had a record-breaking heatwave here. The pain wasn’t too bad as long as I didn’t try to move much. Luckily, I had some pretty good pills to help with that. It was a little over two weeks before the bandages could come off. I was fortunate. There was minimal scarring.
But, there is a HUGE financial cost to this whole ordeal as well. I am fortunate to have pretty good insurance, but I’ll still be $3-4k out of pocket. The bills have gone over $30,000.00 already- and not all of them are in yet. The first trip to the burn centre alone was over $25,000.00.
Why Did I share this?
Too many people are too casual when it comes to handling the chemicals involved in SLA printing. I see it all the time in forums- Even in the responses to my post- People who don’t bother for various reasons. I’ve seen people who say if it were hazardous, there would be more warnings. There are even those who brag about how much resin they’ve been exposed to, with no apparent ill effects. One person also felt compelled to make a video to “Debunk” my claims, by doing an incredibly stupid experiment where he poured resin on to his skin to see what it would do.
All through this incident, I have fully admitted that I made a dumb mistake. I could EASILY have just done what the majority of people would do in this situation, and keep it to myself. But, I feel like people need to take this stuff more seriously. And, the only way they are going to do that is if they see the consequences.
What SHOULD have been done in this situation?
Well- I should have put my health and safety first. I should have put the printer down, and cleaned myself up properly, THEN worried about the printer. By the time this is done, I could have bought a LOT of new printers with just my copays… And the total bills are likely to approach the amount I spent on my house!
There is no reason to fear the resins- But as with any chemical you work with, you need to have a respect for it. Know how it can harm you and how to protect yourself. And, if you are exposed, know what to do to clean it up. I like to remind those that brag about being able to take the exposure without problems that I, too was once like that. I had NEVER had an adverse reaction to it before this incident. That’s probably what made this incident escalate as it did. I was too complacent.
I hope that seeing what CAN happen leads others to make better choices in how they handle these chemicals. I’ve prepared a video about what happened, which can be seen. Besides, there are links in the description to more photos.
Bernard MacGregor
Michael
Thank you for posting this. It is very important. Especially the part where you explain the cost in medical expenses to the cost of protective equipment and the time and other consequences of what happened to you in comparison to what it might have taken to prevent it.
I think over time we forget how dangerous resin can be. The longer we are exposed to it the greater the risk of severe reaction like yours.
Spillage and accidents are part of the process.
You learn how to decrease spillage over time but as you get more and more comfortable with resin printers you realize things can happen.
I See posts where a lot of people leave resin in their vats for long periods of time. I never do this primarily because my printer is in an area where animals and other people can go. They usually don’t but the area is not locked.
When I finish my prints I always clean out my vat, pour all the resin back into its container and clean all my tools completely and put them away. (All my tools are short and small and get dropped into a glass jar with resin cleaner as soon as I am finished with them).
I put my paper towels, glass wipes, supports, and other contaminated waste in an old empy kitty litter container that has a cover that seals nicely. I also make sure the cover is off before post processing starts and wait to put the cover on until my hands are completely clean.
I have a 4″ duct fan connected to the exhaust of my resin printer and its vented out a window through a hole in 1″ rigig insulation. I run the duct fan during and after all prints.
I clean the outside of my resin containers after every use with spillage (after every refill through a screen and occasionally after filling the vat).
I clean any spillage immediately to prevent it from spreading.
I use old plastic resteraunt food storage containers under my prints as I pry them from the plate.
Proper preparation and pre planning antipating spills and accidents is the key to keeping dangerous uncured resin from causing harm or damaging/ soiling things.
Barry MacGregor
Colin Harvey
So Pleased you posted this and the original it happened to me over the last christmas, got myself a Creality SLA 3d printer that after setting up beside my desk i was less careful than i should have been and ended up with some drips on a blanket that i sat under and slept under during he winter months , so got some through secondary contact onto my arm, and ended up with burns on my arms chest trunk and legs the thing that gets me is folk don’t realise how much care they should take around Photopolymer resin even the vids talking about safety have a disposable face mask and nitrile gloves along with shorts and bare feet , t-shirts and bare arms like their skin is impervious to damage , now i’m not saying cover up in a full hazmat suit but take care and if you get a splash on you wash it immediately. i’d add pics of my burns i i could see how and will happily share them with anyone that wants them but as part of my treatment i went onto to steroids to help heal the damage and like you am left with parts where it doesn’t show much and a few blistery pocks at the contact site ( my arm in my case ) people should treat the resin with care
william
It was so nice of you to share your experience if you would like we could add you to this article also just send us a email at [email protected]
Skip
I’m getting my first Ender3 for Christmas. I thank you for sharing this. I got kids. Now I know. Im sorry but that looked brutal. The pain you went threw must have sucked. Your a professional and we got keyboard warriors who know more than us. They are idiots. Glad you stuck up for yourself.
william
welcome to being a 3D printer the ender 3 is not a resin printer but still be safe