ESCO biological safety cabinet
Biological Safety Cabinet
A Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC), also known as a Biosafety Cabinet, is used for handling pathogenic biological samples or procedures requiring a sterile work zone. It creates controlled inflow and downflow air to protect the operator. The downflow air passes through ULPA/HEPA filters, producing an ISO Class 3 work area that prevents cross-contamination. Exhaust air is also ULPA/HEPA filtered to protect the environment.
Class I Biological Safety Cabinet
AC1-E
A Class I Biosafety cabinet protects the operator and the environment from exposure to biohazards. It does not prevent samples being handled in the cabinet from being exposed to contaminants that may be present in room air. Naturally, there is a possibility of cross-contamination that may affect experimental consistency. Consequently, the scope and application of Class I cabinets is limited, and it is largely considered obsolete.
Class II Biological Safety Cabinet
LA2-S G4
The most common Class II cabinet. It has a plenum from which 30% of air is exhausted, and 70% re-circulated to the work area as the downflow.
Stated from NSF/ ANSI 49:2010, both the Class II Type A1 and Type A2 must have the positively-pressurized contaminated plenum to be surrounded by negative pressure. In case there is a leakage on the positive plenum, the leaking aerosol will be pulled by the negative pressure back to the positive plenum, and it will not leak out.
Class III Biological Safety Cabinet
AC3-4B
Suitable for work with microbiological agents assigned to biosafety levels 1, 2, 3 and 4. They are frequently specified for work involving the most lethal biological hazards.
Work is performed through glove ports in the front of the cabinet. During routine operation, negative pressure relative to the ambient environment is maintained within the biosafety cabinet. This provides an additional fail-safe mechanism in case physical containment is compromised.