Different Biosafety Cabinets in the Marketplace.

Posted by Kewaunee on February 4th, 2021

Every biosafety lab is different. You might treat and experiment with different pathogens and hazardous samples. So, you will need biosafety cabinets or BSC depending on the biosafety level. BSCs or biosafety cabinets are an important equipment which plays a vital role in the biosafety level compliance. 

There are different types and categories of biosafety cabinets. We’ll cover them in this article. 

Class I

Class I biosafety cabinets protects personnel and the environment. They do not provide product or sample protection. There is a drawback in certain laboratories where samples are required to be protected too. 

Class I BSCs have HEPA filter at the outlet for the exhaustion of air. These cabinets may or may not be plugged outside the lab. Class I Biosafety Cabinets are perfect for agents or chemicals that have biosafety levels ranging from 1 to 3, where product protection is not required. 

Class II

Class II ventilated BSCs or biosafety cabinets provide safety for products, the environment, and personnel. Hence, it’s well suited for many microbiological work and/or sterile pharmacy tasks. 

For personnel protection, Class II BSCs have an open front with an inward flow of air. 

For production protection, it operates in a downward direction by using the HEPA-filtered laminar airflow. And for the environment’s safety, this cabinet also uses HEPA-filter to exhaust the air. 

These cabinets have several types: A1, A2, B1, B2, and C1. In the B2 type, all the ducts and plenums contaminated at the biological level must have negative pressure.

Whereas C1 are unique cabinets. They can act as type A in the recirculation of air inside the cabinet. They act as type B cabinets when you need to exhaust the airflow with the proper filtration process. 

Generally, Class II biosafety cabinets handle majority of the bio agents and applicable in biosafety levels from 1 to 3. 

Class III

Class III Biosafety cabinets have leak-tight construction along with the rubber gloves. These cabinets leave no scope for any error in the middle of the chemical or biological agents' operation. 

Class III cabinets are also called as gloved boxes. There is also a chamber in these boxes for sterilizing materials before taking them out for further examination. 

The filters inside these cabinets are doubly layered with HEPA filtration and incineration. These cabinets deal with those chemical and biological agents that have levels ranging from 1 to 4 containment. 

Often, researchers might be required to wear PPE kits or uniforms. That’s when operating any experimentation or sterilization using these cabinets. 

Conclusion:

Kewaunee is a leading provider of Class II A2 & Class II B2 biosafety cabinets. Kewaunee’s Interceptor biosafety cabinets comes in various sizes and configurations to chose from. Visit https://www.kewaunee.in/ to know more.