Safety 

Safety is a huge topic when working with plastic, it’s extremely important to take the right precautions - then you are completely safe. We’ll walk through the dangers of fume exposure and which plastics are unsafe to work with. Please take the information on this page very seriously.

Melt not burn

The first rule is: don’t burn plastic; dioxins are released which a highly toxic compound that has been shown to increase cancer, reproductive problems and immune system damage. It can also greatly damage internal organs and the hormonal system.

If you do need to burn a small piece of plastic to identify its type, then do so taking the proper precautions. You can melt plastic, you just can’t burn it. 🔥

Volatile Organic Compounds

All plastics are made up of large molecules and when melted they make smaller molecule as fumes. These fumes are also called Volatile Organic Compounds and are very dangerous.

The plastic types, ABS and PS created the most fumes: approximately 5 to 7 times more than the other plastics. The safest plastic to melt is PP and PE because they are low in cyclic compounds and they are essentially refined wax. PVC and PA are low in fumes but the contents are harmful to melt. 🫠

Safety Tips