Saturday, July 14, 2007

 

Biosafety Laboratory level 1 and Biosafety Laboratory level 2

Hi...Hope you guys have fun in the places you have been attached to. Basically I am attached to Temasek Polytechnic Reasearch Laboratory (AS4). Today I am going to talk about Biosafety Laboratory level 1 and 2.

Biosafety Laboratory level 1

Biosafety Laboratory level 1 commmoly known as BSL 1, can be used for micro-organism or chemicals classified as level 1.Basicall there are 4 classes ranging from class 1 to class 4. Micro-organism classified under class 4 are considered very dangerous. In AS4, class 3 or 4 micro-organism are not handled. BSL 1 is suitable for work involving well- characterized agents that are not known to cause disease in healthy adult humans and of minimal potential hazard to laboratory personnel and the environment. Work is done/ conducted on open bench top using standard microbiological practices.

The following standards, special practices, safety equipments and facilities apply to agents assigned to BSL1:
  1. Acces to the lab is limited when experiments with culture are in progress
  2. Eating, drinking, chewing gum or smoking are not permited in the lab
  3. Mouth pipetting is prohibited
  4. All procedures are performed carefully to minimize the creation of splashes &/or aerosol
  5. In the BSL1, there are sinks for handwashing. All personnel must wash their hands, after they handle viable materials, after ther remove their gloves, before they leave the lab
  6. Work surfaces are decontaminated at least once a day with 1:50 dilution of 5.25% NaOCl
  7. If any spillage of micro-organism or chemicals occurs, the spillage area must be soak with 1:5 dilution of 5.25% NaCl
  8. All cultures, stocks, contaminated needles, sharp equipments, broken glasses(such as glass pipettes), must be decontaminated before disposal, by autoclaving
  9. Broken glasses must not be handled directly by hand but must be remove by a brush and dustpan
  10. A biohazrad sign must be posted at the entrance of the lab. This only occurs if infectious agents are persent. The sign must include the name of agents i use, the name and phone no. of the investigator
  11. Personnel Protective Equipments (PPE) such as gloves, lab coat must be worn in the lab at all times
  12. Goggles should be worn, if the personnel wears contact lense or does not wear spectacles, when splashes of hazrads chemical or micro-organism is anticipated
  13. Bench top in BSL1 are impervision to water and are resistant to organic solvent, acids, alkalis, moderate heat.
  14. The bench top n BSL1 is also resistant to chemicals which are used to decontaminate the work surface and equipments
  15. BSL 1 is a "pressured" laboratory. That is it prevents dirty air from entering the lab when the door is open

Biosafety Laboratory 2

Biosafety Laboratory 2 is similiar to BSL 1 lab. it is suitable for work involving agents of modertate potential hazard to the personnel and the environmnet. Nevertheless there are some differences. In BSL2, lab personnel have specific training in handing pathogenic agents and are directed by a trained personnel. Acces to the lab is restricted when work is being conducted. Extreme precautions are taken with contaminated sharp items and certain procedure in which infectious aerosol or splahes may be created in the biosafety cabinets.9details are below)
The standards, special practices, safety equipments and facilities apply to agents assigned to BSL1(point 1-15) also applies to BSL2. In AS4 , instead of BSL2,AS4 has 2 BSL 2 plus lab. One for micro-organism work while another one is for mammalian cell culture work

Apart from those ponits, there are a few more points personnel must follow

  1. The laboratory director establishes polices and procedure whereby people who have been advised of potential hazards and meet specific entry requirements may enter the laboratory
  2. Biosafety procedures are incorporated in to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the lab by the lab director
  3. Personnel working in BSL2 are advised of specific hazards anf are required to read and follw instructions on practices and procedures
  4. All personnel working in BSL2 must recieve appropriate training on the potential hazards associated with the work involved, the necessary precautions to prevent exposure to hazardous materials and evacuation procedures
  5. Personnel Protective Equipments designated for BSL2 use are worn in BSL2. This protective clothing is removed and left in the lab before leaving for other lab or non-lab areas

I hope you guys had fun reading and understood everything. I hope I am able to answer all your questions. Good Luck and Good bye for now.

Eugene Wong TG02


Comments:
hello =)

Erm..you mentioned abt BSL2 labs' PPE..Do u have any examples? Because i am currently in a BSL2 lab too, but i am not required of any special equipment except the usual gloves and lab coat. Thanks!

Kangting
0503331A
TG02
 
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
Hi Kang Ting
BSL 2 lab's PPE is just the gloves and lab coats. However, the PPE that is used in BSL2 has to be remove and place it in the BSL2 lab cabinets before leaving for other lab or non-lab areas. Note that the above statement is not practice in AS4. This is beacuse each of us only have 1 labcoat.We don't have 1 lab coat that is specially used in BSL2 lab & another one in other labs. Hope that I answered your question.

Eugene Wong

TG02
 
in my lab we use 1:128 dilution of Beaucoup (a phenolic detergent disinfectant) instead of alcohol that we normally use in school =)

Ying Ying
TG01
 
Hey Eugene, i'm also working in BSL-2 lab, do you wear mask when working in BSL-2 lab? because i'm advised to wear, but i don't..hehe..so leceh..

Nisha
TG02
 
Hi Nisha

nope.In AS4 we are not ask to wear mask when we are prforming any experiments.

Eugene Wong
TG02
 
wow so many rules, but do u all really practice them? Sometimes these guies are neglected when we are busy.

1)care to name some of the biosafety procedures perform in BSL2?

2)'Personnel Protective Equipments designated for BSL2 use are worn in BSL2. This protective clothing is removed and left in the lab before leaving for other lab or non-lab areas'
So do u have different lab coats for each lab? Quite contradicting coz u mention the opposite in the reply to kangting.

3)'Work surfaces are decontaminated at least once a day with 1:50 dilution of 5.25% NaCl'
How do u judge the frequency of decontaminating your workplace?

4)'A biohazrad sign must be posted at the entrance of the lab. This only occurs if infectious agents are present. The sign must include the name of agents i use, the name and phone no. of the investigator'
There shld be quite a no. of them, so do u actually read everything before u enter the lab? And the investigator who are u referring to? The name and contact no. is provided for what purpose?

5) 'BSL 1 is a "pressured" laboratory. That is it prevents dirty air from entering the lab when the door is open'
Care to explain how it works? Or any back-up if this pressure thingy is faulty?

okay, u can take your time to ans them. hope to see ya soon! do check my blog for further updates!

Chaur Lee
TG01
 
Hey,

What are some of the experiments that you've done in BSL2 lab so far?

Yong Yang
TG02
 
Hi Yong Yang

In the BSL2 lab I perform streaking of S. maltophilia on agar plates, innoculation of S. maltophilia in agar broth and periplasmic protein extraction
This is what I have been doing in the BSL2 this 3 wks

Eugene Wong
TG02
 
Hi

Do you perform all the experiment in the Biosafety Cabinet Class 2? If tests are performed outside the cabinet, what kind of protective measures have to be taken?

Thx.

~Ye Tun
TG01
 
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
heya eugene...wanna ask u sum qn...apart from NaCl, is there any other decontaminant that u guys use??and also...is NaCl a standard solution used for spillage??or isit for different spillage like biological, chemical, etc..there's different disinfectant to be used??
oh yah...for the lab i'm working in, we are not allowed to wash our hands using the sink in the lab....instead, there is a sink outside the lab specially for handwashing...what about AS4??..aniwei hope u r njoying ur SIP:)

nur zahirah tg02
 
Hi Ye Tun,

All experiments involving microorganism are performed in the BSC Class 2 in BSL2.Note that nothing is done outside the BSC class 2, inside the BSL2. Nevertheless, perparation of stocks are done on open benches.
Hope it helps =)

Eugene Wong

TG02
 
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
Hi Chaur Lee. Thanks for the questions

1) Swabbing of the surface agar plates, the interior of BSC cabinets. Surfaces of equipments are also swabbed before placing in the BSC cabinets. Every personnel working in BSL2 must wear lab coats and gloves while working. When working, gloves must also be swabbed with 70% ethanol. Before leaving the lab, gloves must be thrown into a biohazard bag and hands must be used with hand wash and wipe dry with paper towel.

2) What is recommended is that we should have lab coats for BSL2 lab & another one for other lab areas. However it is not practice in AS4 as we only have 1 lab coat. You got it?

3) What we can do is to look visually. If the workplace is dirty, that decontamination has to be taken. Nevertheless, we must decontaminate the tables etc before and after performing any experiment.. Note that in AS4, as there are many people working in the labs, we do not decontaminate our waste individually, instead, we collect things that are to be contaminated and decontaminate them together.

4) That sentence implies for BSL1. The investigator is the person doing the experiment. The name and the contact no. of the investigator is given to ensure that if any break out (such as disease) occurs in the BSL 1, we can track the person. However as AS4 BSL1 do not handle infectious agent, this practice is not observed

5) Basically, the BSL 1 & 2 are negatively pressured while the pressure along the corridor is normal. Once the door is open, air from the corridor enters the lab, preventing dirty air from BSL 1 & 2 to leave. After asking my supervisor, he said that he doesn’t know of any back up plan that exist. Hope it helps =) See you

Eugene Wong

TG02
 
eugene!
Why use NaCl? and u mean the sink in the lab itself can be used for washing hands ah? the BSL that i'm working in can't leh..

Charmaine
TG01
 
Hi zahirah
sorry i type wrongly. NaCl is not used is NaOCl (Sodium hypochlorite) aka bleach. Apart from that, antiseptic hand wash general disinfectant (chlorhexidine gluconate 4% in detergent base) is used for wahhing hands. 70% ethanol is also used. In AS4, BSL lab for bacteria work, we are ask to wash our hand in the lab. There is a sink outside the lab but it is not a requirement to wash there. Bottomline is, hands have to be wash in the lab.Hop it helps!

Eugene Wong
TG02
 
Hi Charmaine
sorry i type wrongly. NaCl is not used. NaOCl (Sodium hypochlorite) aka bleach is used. Yes in the BSL lab for bacteria work, hands are to be wash in the lab. Washing of hands outside the lab is not necessary as you have aready wash your hands outside.

However, in the BSL lab for mammalian cell work, you have to wash your hands outside the lab. This is because the water in the lab is not clean.

Eugene Wong
TG02
 
Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]