Carbon monoxide and laser cutters

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Kenton A. Hoover

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Feb 6, 2017, 5:32:32 PM2/6/17
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So if you haven't been following the Berkeley news, there is this:


I have always believed in venting laser cutters outside, and also putting them on a high stack (to make sure gases are thoroughly diluted before they hit the ground). However using an internal filter often comes up here. I am wondering (1) have you started getting parent questions yet, and (2) if you do "self-contained" ventilation, how many of you are thinking about this? Interestingly, when I  Googled around I found _zero_ references to this though I did find a NIOSH paper on issues with other chemical venting from laser cutters.

-- 
Kenton A. Hoover
Director of Operations / Engineering & Industrial Arts Teacher
Tehiyah Day School
2603 Tassajara Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
+1 510 730 7098 (direct) 


Andrew

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Feb 6, 2017, 5:46:42 PM2/6/17
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Kenton-

Is there some confirmed laser cutter connection to that tragic story?There's a few earlier articles that quote friends on the presence of a small cutter and a 3d printer in the apartment, but nothing about cause was confirmed in either article. 


Carbon monoxide is not a typical lasercutter by product. There are also very good,very cheap commercial testers available everywhere (a phrase which here means, off the shelf in Korea). A far more common laser cutter problem is chlorine gas,released from Lexan, PVC pipes or any other chloride-based polymer.

Laser Cutters REQUIRE ventilation or filtration, preferably both. High quality internal filters are acceptable, but there's still a noticeable difference in air quality when a room has a laser cutter running.When discussing this with parents and admin, it's important to stay grounded in actual research and remind them that difference does not equate to danger.

--andrew
@tieandjeans



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Kenton A. Hoover

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Apr 20, 2017, 1:38:18 PM4/20/17
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Well, they now tested everything else and apparently the laser cutter is still a potential culprit.


Hope they are wrong.

-- 
Kenton A. Hoover
Director of Operations / Engineering & Industrial Arts Teacher
Tehiyah Day School
2603 Tassajara Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
+1 510 730 7098 (direct) 



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