If it is a lab with normal ventilation, and you did not sit with your nose directly above the printer all day, and if you only printed PET or PLA, it probably will not have done any damage. Seems very unlikely to me.
I don't know where you live, but here in Belgium the laws require that the air in a lab is renewed several times per hour (was it 6x or 10x? I don't remember). So you should get plenty of fresh air in the lab anyway.
In a research lab, most other products you use will probably be more dangerous: solvents, biochemicals, composites,...
Things would be different if you would be printing all day in an unventilated small room, for years and years. Then fumes could accumulate.
If you would start projects that require *intensive* 3D-printing, all day long for months, then I would recommend attaching a tube from the ventilation to nearby the printer. Maybe not if you only print once a week for an hour or so, and you are sitting far enough away. If in doubt, try using visible fumes or smoke to see how the air is extracted. Maybe you can place the printers in such a way that the natural flow in the room takes away the fumes?
But this is my personal viewpoint. I don't know if it is in accordance with your local laws, and I don't know your exact situation. Always use common sense.
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Dim3nsioneer 557
The best you probably can do is to follow recommendations given in the safety data sheet of any material in order to safely print that material. You could also check once per year or so if that SDS has been updated.
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geert_2 558
The fact that 3D-printing produces smell, means that it produces gasses and/or particles. Composition and long-term effects might not be totally known, in new and rarely used technologies (=rarely used compared to the number of people in general).
So I think it would be best to provide some sort of fume extraction anyway, even with the cleaner printing products like PLA and PET/polyesters. Maybe similar to the one in a kitchen? Or a simple pipe with fan that you place close above the printer? If you can not get the exhaust pipe to the outside, you could use a system with active carbon filter. Google for ideas and options.
My printers are sitting in a fume extraction cabinet in my laboratory. This is an expensive thing (5000 euro?) and way overkill, but I had it anyway and didn't use it much, so.
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Turan 0
Thank you so much
In our lab big fumes are attached to the roof. However, they are far from the printer. My printer is creality cr-10. I did 3d printing for about 6 months. Pure petg and petg+cf (20 percent carbon fiber). I am not going to use it anymore since my research is don.e Do you think that it made some problems to my health? Sometimes I cleaned the area and once I used elecrical vacuum cleaner. I never used mask:(
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