For the safety of human mankind bio safety is an essential and one of the most basic processes required to be carried out where the objective is to confine bio hazards and reduce the potential exposure of laboratory workers, human beings outside and around the laboratory. The Fume hood and the Bio Safety Cabinet are two of the most multi-purposed machines used to carry out the processes.
The process of prevention of large scale loss biological components, integrity including both human kind and ecology is called Bio-Safety. The application of knowledge, technique, equipment, methods, solutions to prevent personal, laboratory or environmental exposure to potentially infectious agents and bio hazards.
The role of Bio Safety
The prevention mechanisms include strict rules and guidelines to follow to protect from harmful conducts. Therefore as the name suggests it is one of the most important and needful processes in order to maintain a healthy life on Earth. When dealing with this process, high measures of security are needed because of the possibility of outlet of harmful gases into the environment which can not only be poisonous but fatal for the humanity. Various levels are set as precautions required to isolate dangerous biological agents in enclosed laboratory facilities. With levels ranging from BSL-1 to the highest order of BSL-4. While equipment like the Fume Hood is required for laboratory purposes, the Bio Safety Cabinets used for environmental and personal purposes.
What are Fume Hoods
The Fume Hood and Bio Safety Cabinet are two of the most popular resources used to help prevent that exposure. It is a local closed ventilation device which is used to limit exposure to hazardous bio-agents and bio-chemicals. The first device is equipped with at least one type of continuous flow quantities monitoring devices designed to provide the user with the current information on the operational status of the hood. Since these remove large amount of conditioned air from the ventilation system, these devices consume large amounts of energy. Used when primarily small amount of biological and chemical containment is required, a total exhaustion through the outside duct and the HEPA filter is needed and when the procedures require the use of hazardous materials, chemicals and agents.
Bio Safety Cabinets Verses Fume Hoods
While Bio Safety Cabinets have HEPA filtration of air intake, recirculates filtered air into the laboratory and is utilized in the sterilization of bio agents in cell cultures and containment of infectious work, a Fume Hood has no air filtration. Exhausts chemical fumes outside the laboratory and is suitable for chemicals and non-sterile work. To decide between the two one must consider the type of protection needed and what will the equipment be used for. While some may have a requirements where the combined features of both the equipment are needed, the new hybrid cabinet is the perfect solution to their problems.By simply offering a configuration where the electrical controls and outlets are located on the outside of the cabinet the-device can be used as a hood.
