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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1968 July; 16(7): 1086-1092
Copyright © 1968 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Microbiological Studies on the Performance of a Laminar Airflow Biological Cabinet

Biohazards Department, Pitman-Moore Division, The Dow Chemical Company, Zionsville, Indiana 46077
Engineering Department, Behrent Engineering Company, Denver, Colorado 80211

ABSTRACT

Engineering and microbiological tests indicated that a typical, commercial laminar airflow cabinet was not effective in providing either product protection or agent containment. The cabinet was modified and tested through a series of alternate configurations to establish a set of design criteria. A mock-up cabinet was developed from these design criteria. The mock-up unit was evaluated for efficiency in providing both product protection and agent containment. In these evaluations, challenge methods were developed to simulate normal, in-use laboratory operations. Controlled bacterial or viral aerosol challenges were used at higher than normal levels to provide stringent test conditions. Test results indicated that the mock-up unit was considerably better in preventing agent penetration (0.1 to 0.2 particles per 100 ft³ of air) than the commercial cabinet (5 to 6 particles per 100 ft³ of air) during product protection tests. Similarly, agent containment was considerably better in the new cabinet (particle escape of 2 to 3 per 100 ft³ of air at only one of the five test sites) than in the commercial cabinet (particle escape of 2 to 14 per 100 ft³ of air at three of the five test sites).