Igenels products are designed and manufactured to fulfil specific workplace needs and to function within a performance envelope that ensures the broadest margin of safety and product protection for the most demanding laboratory circumstances, due to the crucial nature of such laboratory work.
A biosafety cabinet (BSC) is not the same as a fume hood for chemicals. Chemical fumes and aerosols are removed from the work area using fume hoods. BSCs are designed to keep the workplace clean as well as safeguard individuals who work with biological dangers. BSCs establish a barrier against airborne particles like germs by using vertical laminar airflow.
They clean the air going into the work area and out to the environment with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. Most BSCs have a HEPA filter that recirculates the air over the work area. Chemical vapours are not removed by the HEPA filter, which eliminates airborne particles but not chemical fumes.
When to use a biosafety cabinet?
When manipulating human infections or antineoplastics that are prone to produce aerosols, use a BSC (such as vortexing open tubes, pipetting, opening caps after centrifuging, sonicating, aspirating with a syringe, etc.). Use for all pathogen manipulation that is conveyed through the air (such as Brucella abortus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, etc.). In a BSC, improper airflow or filter leaks could expose lab staff to biohazardous chemicals. It is critical to inspect BSCs on campus on a regular basis to verify that they are providing the required protection to workers and the environment.
Cabinet Purpose
A laminar flow biological safety cabinet is designed to give three fundamental types of protection in increasing degrees:
- Inside the cabinet, personnel are protected from dangerous chemicals
- To avoid contamination of the task, experiment, or process, use product protection
- Contaminants contained within the cabinet are protected from the environment
How Biological Safety Cabinets Are Classified?
When it comes to choosing a biological safety cabinet, classification is crucial. The scientific community has developed standard classification criteria to distinguish containment capabilities and performance aspects throughout time. Biological safety cabinets are classified into three groups.
Class I - Personnel and Environmental Protection Only
Because dirty room air constantly enters the cabinet front and flows across the work surface, a Class I cabinet does not shield the product from contamination. The Class I cabinet, as a partial containment device, is ideal for operations with low to moderate risk agents (biosafety levels 1,2, and 3) where confinement is required but not product protection. The HEPA filter in the Class I cabinet safeguards the environment by filtering air before it is vented, unlike traditional fume hoods. The steady circulation of air into the cabinet and away from the user allows for personnel protection.
Class II - Product, Personnel and Environmental Protection
A Class II cabinet must meet criteria for product, personnel, and environmental protection. Clinical, hospital, life science, research, and pharmaceutical laboratories all employ this style of cabinet. The technique through which air volumes are recirculated or exhausted is how cabinets are categorised in general.
Class III Total Containment Cabinets
Class III biological safety cabinets are gas-tight and suited for use with biological agents that pose a high risk of infection. Class III cabinets provide the maximum level of protection for people, products, and the environment. Baker develops each BSC system to exact customer specifications due to the delicate nature of most procedures done within a Class III cabinet.
iGene Labserve is one of the trusted names in professional scientific equipment manufacturer company in India. It has equipment supplies required for many areas such as Molecular Biology, Analytical Chemistry, Microbial Technology and other areas of science related field.
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