PDA

View Full Version : Not being a chemist !! Can someone check the MSDS sheet?



Bill Cunningham
09-12-2012, 12:27 PM
I have a potential customer that wants some pre-molded parts engraved. The picture image they sent me shows a slight colour change in the orange plastic when engraved. This caught my attention, as most plastic don't change colour when engraved. Attached is the MSDS sheet for this material. The sheet says It gives off 'irritating' fumes when burnt(irritating fumes are never good news).. I have no background in chemistry, so a look see by someone that knows what their doing would help tremendously in whether I accept this job, or not! The .pdf is attached

Thanks..

Mike Null
09-12-2012, 12:40 PM
Bill
Here's what I get.


Chronic Effects of Exposure
For Product: BAYBLEND T85 XF 000000
Not expected to cause any adverse chronic health effects.
Carcinogenicity:
No Carcinogenic substances as defined by IARC, NTP and/or OSHA

Matt Turner (physics)
09-12-2012, 12:53 PM
It looks like it's a proprietary polycarbonate/ABS blend. The MSDS does say that phenol, styrene, and acrylonitrile can be released by burning, each of which appears to be pretty nasty in sufficient quantities (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenol#Toxicity, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrene#Health_effects, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylonitrile#Health_effects), but these are all likely given off by ABS and polycarbonate by themselves, so if you're okay with engraving those then this material should be okay.

Disclaimer: I'm a physicist, not a chemist :)

John Noell
09-12-2012, 3:12 PM
Well, as it says.."Irritating gases/fumes may be given off during burning or thermal decomposition." Same as many other materials we do; best to use good ventilation. "Causes a slipping hazard if spilled." Uhh, how sloppy are you and how's your balance? :) "Contact with hot material will cause thermal burns." Guess McDonalds wish they had thought of this warning to put on their coffee!!! I am not a physician, just a biologist (PhD), but I would not worry (unless I was very careless).

Dan Hintz
09-12-2012, 3:55 PM
I see nothing to worry about in there, Bill... exhaust well so you're not concentrating it in the office and you'll be fine. No difference compared to other typical plastics we cut.

Bill Cunningham
09-12-2012, 6:51 PM
Reading further down the sheet, one of the off gasses had a chlorine element but only 3ppm, and had no idea what the other stuff would morph into.. The baking powder/vinegar volcano is the limit of my basic chemistry knowledge but I haven't found much use for that lately.. I have a good vent, so I will have them send me some samples for testing, and see what happens..Thanks everybody for the input here.. It's appreciated..

Joe Pelonio
09-12-2012, 10:44 PM
I agree with the others, I'd go ahead and do it and not worry, it seems no worse than many other polymers I have used.
Everything we engrave/cut will give off irritating fumes.

Dee Gallo
09-12-2012, 11:01 PM
Bill,

I'm no chemist but I do engrave a lot of Bakelite and Catalin, which are both thermoplastics. They do tend to char, so lowering the dpi to 400 or less is helpful. I find the char will wash off with running hot water and soap.

cheers, dee

BTW - Matt, according to the Big Bang Theory, you're a physicist so you must know everything about everything! Bazinga!

Bill Cunningham
09-15-2012, 7:48 PM
I sent them a email yesterday, and their going to send me a dozen samples for testing.. They have several hundred to do, so the dozen they send me will let me work out a holding jig (the parts are a odd shape with a slightly curved surface on the face to be engraved) and the proper layout and power/speed/dpi for the best engraving technique.. On custom jobs on customer supplied product, I usual just send the back a couple of high res. photos along with the quote and production time. They can then decide what they want to do.. The production time will vary,depending on what my workload is when they arrive, anywhere from 5 to 20 business days... I do jobs in the order they come into the shop, across the fax machine, or arrive by P.O. .pdf in a email.. We'll see how it goes..