Menu
Acrylic is a familiar material across modern manufacturing. Lightweight, long-lasting and versatile, it’s useful for everything from fabricated components and machine guards to signage, displays and specialist products. While useful, the processes used to cut, drill, machine, sand, engrave or heat it can create harmful airborne contaminants. The level and duration of exposure is also significant.
© Olinchuk / Shutterstock.com
Understanding the difference between acrylic dust and vapour is an important starting point when considering workplace health and safety.
Acrylic dust is generally created when solid acrylic is mechanically processed. Cutting, drilling, routing, sawing, sanding and machining can all generate airborne particles, particularly where the process produces fine dust and involves abrasive action. The amount and type of airborne material will depend on the machinery, tooling, operating conditions and type of acrylic. Larger particles may settle relatively quickly, while finer particles can remain suspended in workplace air for longer.
Fumes and vapours can be generated when acrylic is exposed to high temperatures or undergoes processes such as laser cutting and engraving. Instead of simply breaking the material into particles, heat can cause substances within to evaporate or decompose, creating vapours, gases and very fine airborne contaminants.
This distinction matters because a system designed primarily to collect heavier dust is not automatically the right solution for vapours.
Finished PMMA acrylic is generally a stable, solid material that is widely used across industry. The potential risk comes during processing; mechanical operations can generate dust, while heating or laser processing can produce fumes. The composition of the emissions can vary according to any coatings, additives or other materials involved. Workplaces should therefore consult the relevant Safety Data Sheet and assess the specific process to identify what airborne contaminants may be produced.
The level of exposure is also relevant, as occasional, low-level exposure is very different from spending several hours each day working beside a process that continuously generates airborne contaminants.
Methyl methacrylate, or MMA, is a chemical associated with the manufacture of acrylic polymers and is also used in some other acrylic-based products.
When discussing industrial acrylic machining, it’s important to distinguish between solid PMMA and MMA itself. Dust produced by cutting, drilling or machining a solid acrylic sheet is different from airborne MMA vapour.
Mechanical processing primarily creates particulate material or dust. MMA, meanwhile, is a volatile substance that can be present in certain products or generated under processing conditions. Where volatile organic compounds or vapours may be produced, the control measures required can be different from those used for ordinary machining dust. Identifying the specific material and understanding the processes are crucial before selecting an extraction system.
Mechanical processing can generate airborne dust, particularly where fine particles are produced. Fabrication and finishing operations can generate airborne particulate, particularly where effective controls are not in place.
Laser cutting and engraving present a different challenge. The concentrated heat from the laser can cause acrylic to vaporise and produce fumes and vapours. Resulting emissions can include gaseous compounds and fine particulate matter, alongside the characteristic odour that many people associate with laser processing acrylic.
Simply being able to smell a process isn’t a reliable indication of whether exposure is safe. Conversely, the absence of a noticeable odour does not necessarily mean airborne contaminants are absent.
Acrylic paint fumes are another example where the term “acrylic” can cover different materials. Industrial coatings and paints can contain a mixture of resins, solvents, pigments and other substances. Water-based acrylic products may have a different airborne exposure profile from solvent-based products, while spraying can create an aerosol different from the dust generated when machining a solid acrylic sheet.
It’s important not to treat every acrylic-related process as having the same risk. The product being used, how it is applied and the conditions in which it’s used all influence the potential exposure. In an industrial environment, the relevant Safety Data Sheet and COSHH assessment should help establish what substances may be released and what controls are needed.
Good general ventilation has an important role in maintaining workplace air quality but may not be enough to control contaminants at the point where they’re generated.
Local exhaust ventilation, or LEV, aims to capture contaminants close to their source before they can spread throughout the working environment. This can reduce the amount of dust, vapour or fumes that workers might otherwise inhale.
Local extraction can be particularly effective where contaminants are generated at a defined workstation. For mechanical processes that generate airborne particulates, dust extraction systems can be appropriate for capturing and controlling dust. Downdraught benches and cross-draught systems can help capture dust generated by processes such as sanding and sawing.
A downdraught approach can be particularly useful where work is carried out manually at a fixed workstation. Rather than allowing dust to disperse around the operator, extraction draws contaminated air away from the working area and into the filtration system.
For larger components or processes that cannot conveniently be carried out on a conventional workbench, other extraction arrangements may be more suitable.
Where a process produces vapours, gases, smoke or fumes rather than simply dust, the extraction approach needs to reflect that.
Fume extraction systems are designed to capture and filter airborne contaminants such as solvents, smoke and other fumes from production operations. This can be particularly relevant when acrylic is being laser cut, engraved, heated or processed in a way that produces vapour. The filtration technology also needs to be suitable for the specific contaminants involved. For example, acrylic laser processing can produce a high proportion of gaseous compounds compared with solid particulates. This means simply selecting an extractor based on dust volume may not provide the appropriate solution.
There is no single extraction system that’s automatically suitable for every acrylic application. Factors such as the process, material, scale of operation, contaminants produced and working environment should all be considered. A workshop machining acrylic sheet may have primarily a dust-control requirement, while a laser cutting operation may need effective fume and vapour control. A painting or coating process could introduce another combination of airborne contaminants.
In the UK, businesses should consider their responsibilities under relevant workplace health and safety and COSHH requirements, including appropriate assessment and control of exposure. LEV systems should also be properly selected, installed, maintained and examined to ensure they continue to perform as intended.
AirBench Ltd are the UK’s leading manufacturer of downdraught benches and cross draught extraction systems. We have more than 10,000 extraction systems in service in the UK and overseas. Along with our range of coolant mist filters and air cleaning systems, we are actively helping businesses across many industries solve their workplace dust and fume issues.
If you'd like to try an AirBench product for FREE simply book a demo and we'll bring one to you.
If you’d like to try an AirBench product for FREE simply book a demo and we’ll bring one to you.