Unclear what a "laser 3D printer" means--possibly selective laser sintering, but that doesn't produce carbon monoxide to my knowledge. Possibly a homegrown machine. Tragic reminder of the importance of proper workspaces.
As someone waiting for their Glowforge to ship, I really hope their device wasn't involved in all this.
> It needs ventilation via the provided 4″ diameter (10.2cm) hose. We recommend putting the hose out a window.
Having said that, while good safety information is important, two MIT-trained engineers should really have known better.
That said, I'm assuming Glowforge is going to scramble to make sure that users use their device safely regardless.
> Lasers normally require some ventilation via a small tube out a nearby window. Our optional Air Filter that sits under Glowforge and ventilates using HEPA filters and charcoal, meaning no outside ventilation is required.
Best to my knowledge HEPA and charcoal don't help against CO. So running one with the filter in an unventilated space might still be hazardous.
Carbon monoxide is a few orders of magnitude too small to be caught by a HEPA filter, in fact a filter that could filter CO would filter oxygen and nitrogen as well. Such a filter would just be a pump.
There, however, exists a patent for a filter for CO, it works by converting the CO to CO2: https://www.google.com/patents/US5564065
This technique is routinely used to generate concentrated supplies of oxygen or nitrogen, but is wildly expensive compared to ventilation.
(It's not quite as simple as just putting one in-line with the waste gas flow- the catalyst would also need to be externally heated.)
There is very little gas in a tube though.
CO is odorless. You might get a headache, or you might only feel tired. What's worse: a lot of CO detectors are pretty shoddy.
Some home-built tubes do use a gas supply, but virtually no one builds their own CO2 tube to use in a laser cutter when better tubes are available on eBay for $100.
This is speculation on my part based on my assumptions. If my assumptions are incorrect that's fine.
Many folks use small compressors for this purpose.
But it won't have anything to do with CO levels.
As others have said, normal laser cutters have sealed tubes, although its of course possible they had some DIY rig for whatever reason. MIT students building their own CO2 laser just for fun doesn't seem all that odd, using it for long time in a cutter maybe more so. I don't know if a leak in a CO2 system would lead to CO poisoning or no. CO produced by the material cut seems more likely to me.
however, after thinking some more, I agree that CO from material cut is more likely.
Air assist, yes (to clear smoke and particles from the beam and protect the focus lens from soot), but that's just an air pump, not a gas supply.