Biosafety

Biosafety Introduction

Biosafety addresses the safe handling and containment of infectious microorganisms and hazardous biological materials. The Primary Investigator and/or Professor will identify and characterize biological hazards that you will be working with during lab.

Knowledge, preparation, and review of various safety topics before performing experiments or operating equipment for the first time will also reduce risks and help you identify and characterize hazards. Please take time to become aware of the safety information on this webpage.

The Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories 5th Edition (BMBL) [422 pages] has become the code of practice for biosafety—the discipline addressing the safe handling and containment of infectious microorganisms and hazardous biological materials. The principles of biosafety introduced in 1984 in the first edition of BMBL1 and carried through in this fifth edition remain steadfast. These principles are containment and risk assessment. (Summary -16 pages)

The fundamentals of containment include the microbiological practices, safety equipment, and facility safeguards that protect laboratory workers, the environment, and the public from exposure to infectious microorganisms that are handled and stored in the laboratory.

The purpose of periodic updates of BMBL is to refine guidance based on new knowledge and experiences and to address contemporary issues that present new risks that confront laboratory workers and the public health. In this way the code of practice will continue to serve the microbiological and biomedical community as a relevant and valuable authoritative reference.

Individual workers who handle pathogenic microorganisms must understand the containment conditions under which infectious agents can be safely manipulated and secured. Application of this knowledge and the use of appropriate techniques and equipment will enable the microbiological and biomedical community to prevent personal, laboratory and environmental exposure to potentially infectious agents or biohazards.

The posting of Biohazard signs that list the infectious agent on outside classroom doors is required when working with BSL 2 infectious microorganisms. Learning how to recognize and identify hazards starts with reading lab procedures carefully, and asking questions about information or instructions you don't understand.

RISK CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHING ASCENDING LEVELS OF CONTAINMENT

The primary risk criteria used to define the four ascending levels of containment, referred to as biosafety levels 1 through 4, are infectivity, severity of disease, transmissibility, and the nature of the work being conducted.

Biosafety level 1 (BSL-1) is the basic level of protection and is appropriate for agents that are not known to cause disease in normal, healthy humans. 

Biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) is appropriate for handling moderate-risk agents that cause human disease of varying severity by ingestion or through percutaneous or mucous membrane exposure. 

Agents requiring the following Biosafety levels 3 and 4 are not permitted at St. Norbert College

Biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) is appropriate for agents with a known potential for aerosol transmission, for agents that may cause serious and potentially lethal infections and that are indigenous or exotic in origin. 

Biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) is appropriate for Exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of life-threatening disease by infectious aerosols and for which no treatment, are restricted to high containment laboratories that meet (BSL-4) standards 

The Association for Biosafety and Biosecurity - ABSA videos

Animal Biosafety Level 1 [10:26] - Personal Protective Equipment  - surgical mask and a face shield 

Animal Biosafety Level 2 [19:36]

Animal Biosafety Level 3 [22:24]

Overview of Risk Assessment and Management [7:54]

Definitions

• Biohazards are infectious agents or hazardous biological materials that present a risk or potential risk to the health of humans, animals, or the environment.  The risk can be direct through infection or indirect through damage to the environment.
• Note: The CDC, NIH, and other government agencies and professional organizations provide listings and information on organisms and viruses considered to be biohazardous or infectious agents. Any organism or virus listed in Risk Group (RG) two, three, four or that requires Biosafety Level (BL) two, three or four containment is considered biohazardous.
• Biohazardous materials include certain types of recombinant DNA: organisms and viruses infectious to humans, animals or plants (e.g. parasites, viruses, bacteria, fungi, prions, rickettsia); and biological agents (e.g. toxins, allergens, venoms) that may cause disease in other living organisms or cause significant impact to the environment or community. 
• Biological materials are any materials containing genetic information and capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system. Biological materials include (but are not limited to):
• Microorganisms
• Recombinant DNA (rDNA) ... The NIH Guidelines provide a list of covered experimental uses of recombinant DNA that are considered biohazardous and a separate list of exempt experimental uses of recombinant DNA that are not considered biohazardous. These lists are found in Section III of the NIH Guidelines.
• Cell lines
• Animals (live or tissues and biological fluids)
• Plants
• Human tissue or biological fluids
• Microbial Toxins
• Biohazardous waste is any liquid or solid waste generated through the handling of specimens from humans or animals that may contain infectious agents.  Cultures of infectious agents, human anatomical remains, and animal carcasses that may be infectious are also considered biohazardous waste.
• Hazardous waste is any hazardous material that is to be abandoned, discarded, or recycled.
• Infectious agent is any microorganism, bacteria, mold, parasite, or virus that normally causes or significantly contributes to increased human mortality.  Infectious agents have also been defined as any materials that contains an organism capable of being communicated by invading and multiplying in body tissues (40 CFR 259.10)
• Select agents and toxins are agents and toxins listed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as having potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety, in accordance with section 351A(a)(1) of the Public Health Service Act.
• Sharp waste includes devices or objects capable of cutting or piercing, such as hypodermic needles, razor blades, and broken glass.
• Transgenic materials include microorganisms, plants, and animals that have been genetically engineered or modified.  Recombinant DNA techniques create new genetic combinations by changing, adding, or subtracting DNA genes, but this methodology does not necessarily mean that new organisms are created.  With the exception of transgenic bacteria that could be infectious (considered biohazardous waste), transgenic materials generally do not pose a threat to public health or the environment.

Other sources of safety information 

Chemical Hygiene Plan
The purpose of a chemical hygiene plan is to set forth standards, procedures, equipment, personal protective equipment and carefully planned work practices for the laboratory use of chemicals in order to protect laboratory workers from the potential health hazards of the chemicals they encounter in the lab. The standards apply to all individuals working with hazardous chemicals in science and biology laboratories. View the plan.

Avoiding Underestimation of Risk
A hazardous chemical is one in which there is statistically significant evidence that acute or chronic health effects may occur due to exposure.

Health-hazardous chemicals include those which are carcinogens, toxic or highly toxic agents, reproductive toxins, irritants, corrosives, sensitizers, hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins, neurotoxins, hematopoietic system agents and agents which damage the lungs, skin, eyes or mucous membranes.

Physically-hazardous chemicals refer to those in which there is scientifically valid evidence that it is a combustible liquid, a compressed gas, explosive, flammable, an organic peroxide, an oxidizer pyrophoric or unstable or water-reactive.

Exposures for all substances should be minimized; during work with substances which present special hazards, special precautions should be taken. Any toxic mixture should be considered more toxic than its most toxic component. Substances of unknown toxicity should be considered toxic.

Always check the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) information before working with a chemical.

Materials:
Compressed Gases
Corrosive Materials
Cryogenics
Electrical
Flammable Materials
Hazardous Waste
Peroxide Compounds

Procedures:
Chemical Identification and Storage
Spill Control and Emergency Spills
Waste Management