A biological safety cabinet is an equipment used to protect workers or manpower from hazardous and infectious environments. The biological safety cabinet (BSC) works in filtering out the inflow and exhaust air resulting in the prevention of the release of biohazards in the working space. It also prevents any sort of accidental release of biohazards. Those cabinets are made to protect against exposure of hazardous particulars. Its downflow air feature allows us to remove contaminants in the surrounding area thus maintaining the overall quality of the air. It is also said to be the laminar flow.
How does it work ?
All BSC comes with its own HEPA filter and what it does is that it recirculates air and eliminates potential infectious air. Its filter is able to purify and regenerate the overall air quality.
Types of protection
A BSC usually provides 3 types of protection which are personal protection against harmful agents that are found within the cabinet, protection against products to avoid any sort of contamination and the last one would be environmental protection against contaminants.
| Biological safety cabinets can be categorized into 3 different classes and these categorization is done based on its capabilities in working with biological agents.
Class 1 Cabinets – This class cabinets provide protection against personal and environmental danger. It is often used when we are working with low or moderate risk agents Class 2 Cabinets – This class cabinet is quite similar to class 1 but it is able to provide protection against personnel, environment and product. This type of cabinet is used when we are working with low or moderate risk agent Class 3 cabinets- This class cabinet is slightly different than the other 2 classes it is named as the highly specialized one. It provides protection against personnel and environmental danger as well but it is made for working with really highly infectious agents. This class 3 cabinet provides the highest level of protection and is suitable to put into use if you are working with really high risk biological agents. Advantages of using biosafety cabinet1.Has an inbuilt ventilation system The HEPA ventilation system stands a a barrier in protecting against any type of harmful organism that is hazardous to health when breathed in 2. Eliminates risk The main purpose of a biosafety cabinet is to give protection against possible exposed contamination. It acts as a barrier between the outer environment and the sample as it is very hazardous for the human. However as users of the cabinet, lab techs are always advised to check the filtration system once in a while to avoid malfunction. 3. Inbuilt with high level of ventilation system The HEPA filter is known for its powerful features to filter and trap all kinds of harmful and hazardous agents like harmful viruses. 4. Airtight cabinet Another reason why this biosafety cabinets are reliable is because it is manufactured in a way that is super airtight so that it is able to give protection against harmful contagions that goes in and out of the cabinet itself. |