2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Additive manufacturing has quickly expanded and transformed the educational and research landscape, allowing rapid prototyping and local fabrication for researchers, practitioners, and students from a variety of fields. Alongside these advantages, however, the growth of 3D printing technologies has introduced a wide range of health and safety challenges, and safety standards have not kept pace. This has created a challenging regulatory landscape for educators to navigate, as they balance compliance with the need to expand 3D printing capabilities to keep up with advances in research, and/or conduct research in additive manufacturing themselves.

Current fire codes requiring UL listing or field evaluation create significant hurdles for manufacturers and users, and limit flexibility for research applications. Similarly, while UL 2904 GREENGUARD certification provides for testing and assessing particle and chemical emissions of 3D printers, there are no standardized requirements for building ventilation or filtration in rooms supporting additive manufacturing operations, leaving institutions to develop their own approaches. Further complicating matters, modifications of commercial 3D printers in research settings frequently negate compliance with established fire and electrical safety standards.

This paper provides an overview of the health and safety risks associated with additive manufacturing. It provides insight on 3D printing safety policies and practices across U.S. universities, highlighting both common strategies and gaps. Finally, the discussion will examine challenges posed by restrictive fire and electrical standards and propose potential pathways toward balanced, practical solutions that encourage innovation. By doing so, this paper aims to spark dialogue about these issues to ultimately advance a more consistent, evidence-based approach to additive manufacturing safety in academia.