ABS Biocompatibility

[faalexand 1]

Has anyone looked at the Biocompatibility of the ABS filament supplied by Ultimaker? I'm printing some parts that will make contact with human cell lines in culture and wanted to know if the materials are cytotoxic.

[tsp42 0]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16179758/?i=1&from=Acrylonitrile%20butadiene%20styrene%20cell%20culture

Making a new ear?

I would be a little worried about what could leak out of the plastic during cell culture that might affect the cells even if it is not cytotoxic. Natural PLA might be safer considering it is not made from oil but who knows. Please let us know when you have tested it. Maybe ultimaker could sponsor 6 microarray assays...

[neotko 1,417]

Maybe better an antimicrobial filament? http://imakr.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=489103880cde56c6dab9bd1bc&id=d00d94bb44&e=bf9047f661

[tsp42 0]

Not really. Antibiotics are usually added to the culture media and you really don't want any possible adverse effects from the unknown antibacterials added to the filament. The best filament to use should be completely biological inert or alternatively just support the attachment of the cells to the plastic.

[mentorichter 0]

ABS is usually not cytotoxic. BUT: cytotoxicity depends not only on the material, it depends also on processing conditions and contact liquids used in an application. To high processing temperatures (> 260°C) will result in decomposition products (e.g. Styrene) and solvents could extract traces of potential byproducts (e.g. Butadiene).

[faalexand 1]

Quick update to this topic if anyone was wondering. I ran a quick biocompatibility check with some of the material according to ISO 10993 and it didn't seem to have any adverse effects on L929 murine fibroblast cells.