Regulatory Ratings:
Cast urethanes with FDA and UL ratings are marginally available for prototyping. The selection of rated materials is very limited. Typically the materials replicate ABS in that they are rigid and opaque.
Saying a material is UL "approved" is a bit of a misnomer. What is actually available in the case of UL is a "Yellow Card" which simply indicates that the material was tested and met a specific burn test at a particular thickness of test specimen. Usually this ranges from .063" to .187", with .125" being the most common.
Determining whether a particular material meets the UL requirement for your application is up to you. But a previously tested material should give you and UL some confidence that the material will meet the requirement. Since materials are continually being improved please call with your requirements and we will research available materials for you.
FDA rated urethanes present more limitations. We are not currently aware of any FDA approved urethanes. However, there are some materials available in which all the components that make up the resin have been individually recognized by the FDA and approved for certain levels of food or human contact. This means that you may reasonably expect to use the material for limited food or human contact without a known reaction or exposure issue. To the best of our knowledge, urethanes CANNOT be put into the body.
California and Europe do not allow the importation of any PRODUCTION materials that contain mercury. If you expect to make a finished product from cast urethane that will go to California or Europe, let us know. The urethane industry is working feverishly to eliminate mercury from its products. In the mean time, there are still many urethanes that contain small amounts of mercury. There is no risk of mercury poisoning to the user of liquid or cured urethanes. It is the destruction (recycling) of the mercury laden materials that cause concern in these locales. If you expect your parts to be used in California or Europe we can source mercury free materials. We can also provide MSDS information on all materials we use at Metropolis.
