3DPrinting @lemmy.world canthidium @lemmy.world 1y ago

One of my favorite 3D printed organizations. Custom silverware drawer

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5265624

I made this about a year ago and it's one of my favorite creations. Even though I made a mistake in measuring the bottom and had to cut out some slots. One day I'll print it again, but it used a ton of filament and took forever last time.

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Is there more/less a risk of using micro plastics with food stuff than traditional plastic?

I would really love to use a 3D printer for all of these home organization tasks but am worried of increasing consumption of micro plastics.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid Is the most commonly used printing material. I would rather eat that than just about any other "food safe" traditional plastic in my kitchen.
  
  There are other concerns about the actual food safeness of printed objects because of their physical structure being a harbor for bacteria and such, but ingestion isn't one of them.
  
  Finally someone not screaming "micro plastics! Bacteria!". Yes it's an issue for some things. Like I wouldn't be eating with 3d printed utensils or storing food in 3d printed containers, but I just can't imagine my silverware is collecting enough microplastics from sitting there that will do more damage than all the other microplastics already in me from everything else.
  
  It seems to me like missing the forest for the trees as well.
  
  A stationary chunk of solid plastic will probably give off negligible micro plastics, but unless everyone is wearing 100% natural fabrics there's going to be tons of tiny synthetic fibers floating around in the air from clothing...
  
  It seems to me like missing the forest for the trees as well.
  
  Definitely. I feel like people get so focused on one thing and then ignore all the other issues that are harming them as well. Like people will be worried about microplastics, but keep using a 20 year old teflon pan that's scraped to hell every day. Or people that love to tell you that artificial sweeteners are killing you, but then go out binge drinking every week. Eh, pick your battles. It's definitely risk/reward in a lot of ways. I know I'm getting a lot more microplastics from other things, and things out of my control, and the negligible amount I might get from this organizer is ok with me because it makes me happy.
  
  Im used to everyone screaming but there can be lead in the brass nozzle. So use a hardened nozzle.
  
  Kind of annoying to say I was "screaming microplastics" when I simply asked if there was more or less of a risk compared to non-addative manufacturing of plastics. You also seem to have resigned to not being worried about microplastics since it is already a problem.
  
  You and another poster brought up "but there are microplastics everywhere!" Yes, and we are learning about them and their problems. I've heard about potential issues about synthetic fabrics. I think it is pretty reasonable to ask about the safety, especially when the science on the effects of microplastics is finally entering the forefront.
  
  Kind of annoying to say I was “screaming microplastics”
  
  As the other commenter said, "not everything is about you". I didn't say YOU were saying that. It was a general comment about there always being people wanting to yell about microplastics and bacteria every time someone posts a 3d print anywhere near food related areas. I was just happy to see someone comment something I felt was more reasonable than the constant scolding you see in 3D printing communities usually. This is also why I didn't reply to you directly. It's perfectly reasonable to ask about safety and the other commenter already answered your question so I didn't.
  
  I also didn't say I wasn't worried about microplastics since it's already a problem, but I DID say that I wasn't worried about ingesting them from this print.
  
  I see. Surely you can see how it can be interpreted as I did.
  
  Honestly, not really. If you take into account the context that I wasn't responding to your comment, but to the other person, and also knowing you weren't doing what I was talking about, it seems pretty obvious to me that I wasn't talking about you. You were asking a simple question, and you received an answer. I was praising another person's comment. So I dunno, you're entitled to your interpretation, of course, but I obviously wasn't the only one that knew my comment wasn't about you.
  
  Questions safety of microplastics
  
  Answers question on safety
  
  Finally someone not questioning the safety!
  
  Miss the point completely.
  
  I understand the point after you clarified it. You seem to be completely baffled that anyone would interpret it any differently.
  
  Based on your last comment, it seems you still don't understand the point. I'm not sure what else to say. At the risk of this still going nowhere, I'll try to clarify.
  
  I am not baffled that you interpreted it differently, but I feel like had you looked at the context and the order of the comment chain, you would have realized I was making a point about how in almost every thread about a 3D printed food adjacent item, there's always people coming in to yell about bacteria and microplastics. And I was praising the other commenter for not being one of those. It's rare to see a nuanced view on the subject of microplastics and bacteria in 3D prints. My comment was directed to them directly and not involving you in any way. And obviously I wasn't the only one who realized that. I'm not the one downvoting you.
  
  I also never said anything about not questioning the safety, those are your words. I agree it is something to be aware of, but I think it's not a black/white issue and you should decide for yourself the level of risk. For me personally, it's basically a nonissue as the amount of microplastics getting into my silverware is so minimal that I'm not worried about it compared to everything else that I'm getting microplastics from. I never said anyone shouldn't worry about it at all. I was just happy to see a nuanced response to your question instead of the pitchforks and scolding for even thinking about 3D printing something food related.
  
  I think your question was perfectly reasonable and the answer seathru gave you was also perfectly reasonable and I was happy to see the nuance for once. Maybe my comment was too forward about not seeing how you interpreted as you did, and I apologize if that's the case. But I just think given the context, you could have seen it wasn't about you as at least one other commenter did as did I. I kinda feel like you just glanced at the comments and took what I said personally and your emotions took over, but that's just my assumption. I could be wrong. But I can concede that without looking at the context, it could have been interpreted the way you did.
  
  not everything is about you, friend
  
  It was in response to me asking about microplastics so it kinda was.
  
  But it wasn't though.
  
  “PLA Filament” isn't pure PLA, it can contain lots of additives that aren't food safe.

78 comments