Biosafety Cabinet Uv Light Safety

However if you are going to use one please follow the safety guides below to ensure you and your lab s safety.

Biosafety cabinet uv light safety.

If so it may not be as effective for sterilization decontamination purposes as you need it to be. The centers for disease control cdc national institute of health nih and national science foundation nsf all agree that uv lamps are neither recommended nor required in biological safety cabinets. If desired the ultra violet uv light may be turned on. On august 29 2019 in articles for decades germicidal uv lamps have been used in class ii biological safety cabinets to keep the biosafety cabinet s interior clean when not in use.

Proper cleaning and disinfection using liquid disinfectant negates the need for use of uv lamps. National institutes of health nih centers for disease control and prevention cdc national science foundation ansi and the american biological safety association agree that ultraviolet uv lamps are not recommended or necessary for decontamination in bsc s. Many researchers swear by the use of uv lamps and would never consider using an enclosure without one. Eh s biosafety division strongly discourages uv lamps in bscs.

Laboratory safety biosafety cabinets bscs properly maintained biosafety cabinets bscs when used in conjunction with good microbiological techniques provide an effective containment system for safe manipulation of moderate and high risk infectious agents biosafety level 2 bsl 2 and 3 bsl 3 agents. Use of open flames in a biosafety cabinetup the centers for disease control and prevention cdc and the national institutes of health agree that uv lamps are not recommended nor required in bscs. A biological safety cabinet bsc is the primary means of containment developed for working safely with infectious microorganisms. Uv light not only kills microorganisms in the biosafety cabinet but it also destroys living cells in your body.

Class ii bscs the most common cabinets used in laboratories are designed to provide personnel protection for you and those around you product protection for your samples and environmental protection. Uv and any bsc uv lights. Ultraviolet lamps in biological safety cabinets bscs the university of utah office of occupational and environmental health and safety oeh s strongly discourages the use of ultraviolet uv lamps in biological safety cabinets bscs. The use of ultraviolet uv lights in biological safety cabinets bscs has enjoyed a long history although it would be difficult to tell from the biosafety literature.

The current version of the nsf international standard 49 dismisses the use of uv in a bsc.