What to look for in a biosafety cabinet? 3. Safety and Health Features

Well, you are about to use a biosafety cabinet. Surely you know why you will use one, don't you? Okay, here is the thing - you use a biosafety cabinet to ensure your, the product and environment's protection from biohazards. A biosafety cabinet is used to ensure biohazard containment. So when buying a biosafety cabinet, you should look for its safety and health features.

Guess what? A biosafety cabinet is expected to perform well - in terms of providing protection to you, the product and environment. But how can you check for this?

• Know your cabinet. You should know what type of biosafety cabinet you will be buying. There are different classifications and types. Each type has different airflow patterns, airflow velocities, design and construction  and exhaust systems. Consider these parameters since not all types of biosafety cabinets can provide product protection, just saying.(See blog: The biosafety cabinets are on Viber, Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6).
• Look for the cabinet's certification from international standards. The certification will definitely tell you that the cabinet is of quality since it is not that easy for a cabinet to be certified. Your biosafety cabinet is expected to perform well, or else your safety is in jeopardy. (See blog: What to look for in a biosafety cabinet? 2. Excellent Performance ).

Other cabinets usually focus on the above-mentioned, yet there other things about a biosafety cabinet you look into, such as:

• Type of Filter. Biosafety cabinets usually are equipped with HEPA filter (with typical efficiency of at least 99.97% for contaminant particles with 0.3 micron size). However, we have another filter type - ULPA filter - and it is better in filtering particles (with typical efficiency of at least 99.999% for contaminants 0.12 microns or larger in diameter).
• Blower plenum design. Blower plenum and side walls should be surrounded by a negative pressure to prevent contaminants from escaping outside. This is an added safety feature for advanced biosafety cabinets. (See Airstream® Class II Biological Safety Cabinet).
• Antimicrobial coating. An antimicrobial coating will surely inhibit microbial growth, and if applied to a biosafety cabinet, it will be an added safety feature. There is this antimicrobial coating applied to biosafety cabinets of Esco - Isocide™ - which  is a silver-ion impregnated powder coat. (See Airstream® Class II Biological Safety Cabinet).
• Airflow sensor. Airflow sensors can monitor real-time airflow for safety and alert the user if airflow is insufficient.
• Cabinet construction. The cabinet shall be designed to eliminate sharp edges, protrusions in order to minimize the risk of personal harm to the operator. All metal edges shall be dressed and deburred.
• Other features. It may not be that obvious but each feature of the biosafety cabinet can contribute to its safety and health feature.

See, there are alot of things to consider in assessing the biosafety cabinet's safety and health features. So when you plan to buy one, look for the above, too. Happy buying!

Resources:

Esco. 2015. Airstream® Class II Biological Safety Cabinets (S-Series). Available from: http://www.escoglobal.com/products/download/Biological-Safety-Cabinet-AC2-G3-brochure-A4-vC-LR.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2015].

IHS Engineering 360. 2015. HEPA Filters and ULPA Filters Information. [Online]. Available from: http://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/manufacturing_process_equipment/filtration_separation_products/hepa_filters_ulpa_filters. [Accessed 12 October 2015].