An important piece of safety equipment will be the Biological Safety Cabinet (BSCs) in which manipulations of infectious microorganisms are performed. Biological safety cabinets will be the primary suggests of containment created for working safely with infectious microorganisms. Horizontal clean benches that direct towards the operator will not be biological safety cabinets and should not be used for handling infectious, toxic or sensitizing supplies. BSCs are developed to provide both a clean work atmosphere and protection for employees who work with biological hazards hence biosafety cabinet's uses vertical laminar airflow to create a barrier to airborne particles, such as microorganisms as vertical laminar air flow supplies protection for each the personnel as well as the product. Get extra information regarding biosafety cabinets class 2
Biosafety cabinets use the HEPA filtered air for the recirculation over the work location. The HEPA filter removes airborne particles in the air, but doesn't get rid of chemical fumes; as a result Biosafety cabinets need to not be confused with the fume hood. Biosafety cabinets are usually not the Fume Hood. Biosafety cabinets are equipped with Ultraviolet lamp that provides protection against contamination, but as the UV light can not penetrate the dust particles, consequently yet another chemical disinfectant, iodophor needs to be use for the cleaning and decontaminating the work location.
Use of biosafety cabinets is recommended for the manipulations of pathogens or antineoplastics that could generate aerosols and for all the airborne transmitted pathogens (for instance Brucella abortus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, etc).
You'll find three classes of biological safety cabinets;
BSCs Class I: an open-front damaging pressure cabinet. The exhaust air from the cabinet is filtered by a HEPA filter. This class offers personnel and environmental protection, but not product protection.
BSCs Class II: is definitely an open-front, ventilated cabinet. This cabinet gives a HEPA-filtered, recirculated mass airflow within the work space. The exhaust air in the cabinet can also be filtered by HEPA filters. This class provides personnel, atmosphere and product protection.
BSCs Class III: is a completely enclosed ventilated cabinet of gas-tight building. Operations within the Class III cabinet are performed by means of attached rubber gloves. When in use, the Class III cabinet is maintained through damaging air pressure of at least 0.5 inches water gauge. Provide air is drawn in to the cabinet by way of HEPA filters. The cabinet exhaust air is filtered by two HEPA filters, installed in series, ahead of discharge outside with the facility. The exhaust fan for the Class III cabinet is normally separate from the exhaust fans from the facility's ventilation system.
