Biohazardous materials

Quality systems require that facilities and equipment should be appropriate to the activities undertaken. Surfaces that are easy to clean and maintain in hygienic condition are a requirement in many situations. For example, cloth-backed chairs would not be acceptable in a laboratory that handled potentially biohazardous materials. Equipment should be checked at installation to demonstrate that it can perform its desired function. This is frequently done using an Installation Qualification, Operational Qualification and Performance Qualification (IQ /OQ/PQ) commissioning process. Routine maintenance and calibration programmes are then required to ensure that equipment continues to deliver the specified performance. 

A laboratory must provide adequate and, if necessary, separate space for the performance of routine and specialized procedures. Examples of specialized procedures include aseptic surgery, necropsy, histology, radiography, handling of biohazardous materials, and cleaning and sterilizing of equipment and supplies. 

Parts 58.41 through 58.51 cover the physical facihties of the laboratory. The inspector must determine whether or not the facilities are of adequate size and design for completed or in-process studies. The physical parameters and systems of the facilities as they are used to accommodate the various operations employed in the GLP studies are examined. Investigators also deal explicitly with the environmental control and monitoring procedures for critical areas, especially the rooms used for animal housing, the test article storage areas, and the laboratory areas in which biohazardous material is handled. The procedures and methods for cleaning equipment and areas critical to study conduct as well as the cur-... 

Great care should be taken in handling the tissue to avoid infection. Picric add is both toxic and explosive. Safety guidelines must be used when working with this reagent. Guanidine thiocyanate is also a biohazardous material. 

All biohazardous materials and items contaminated with infectious agents should be either decontaminated before being washed and stored, or discarded properly. 

All laboratories in which work with biohazardous materials is carried out must have labeled, leak-proof, covered containers for temporary holding of infectious materials awaiting disinfection or disposal. 

All floors, laboratory benches, and other surfaces in areas where biohazardous materials are handled must be disinfected upon completion of operations involving plating, pipetting, centrifugation and similar procedures. 

Biohazard level 1. Bacillus subtilis, canine hepatitis, E. coli, varicella (chicken pox). At this level precautions against the biohazardous materials in question are minimal, most likely wearing gloves and some facial protection. Decontamination procedures at this level are similar in most respects to modern precautions against everyday viruses (washing hands with antibacterial soap, washing all exposed surfaces of the lab with disinfectants, etc.). 

E Working With Biohazardous And Radioactive Materials 5.E.1 Biohazardous Materials... 

Prevention of the release of biohazardous materials from biotechnology processes can be achieved by applying biosafety containment principles. Consideration must be given to the containment requirements of all process steps from the initial generation of seed cultures and inocula to the handling of process effluent. The problems of treating off gases and liquid effluent are discussed elsewhere (chapter 12). This chapter will consider the application of containment principles to prevent release of hazardous material from unit processes at laboratory and pilot plant scales. 

Other. If the possibility of the release of biohazardous material from a biotechnology process operation has to be accepted, then it may be appropriate to consider the use of personal physical protection of the worker in the form of positive (or negative) pressure respiratory protection... 

Irrespective of whether the freeze-drier has been fitted with filters, incinerators or other features designed to reduce internal contamination, freeze-driers used to process biohazardous materials must be capable of decontamination at the end of the cycle. As well as protecting personnel and environment from the processed agent, decontamination will prevent cross-contamination from materials previously processed within the freeze-drier. 

Integrated approach to safe freeze-drying of biohazardous materials... 

If your work typically brings you into close proximity to biohazardous materials, you likely already know the potential safety and environmental risks and the safe handling procedures. But it s essential that everyone in the area knows what to do in a biohazard emergency, both during the emergency and afterward, during cleanup. 

When used with biohazardous materials, centrifuge tubes, rotors, and accessories should be filled and opened in a biological safety cabinet (215). If centrifuging of biohazardous substances is to be performed outside a special containment cabinet, a sealed safety bucket or tube should be used (Figure 1.6). After the safety bucket or tube is filled and sealed, it should be considered potentially contaminated and should be wiped with a cloth soaked in disinfectant. Since some disinfectants are corrosive to centrifuge rotors and buckets, rinsing the rotor or bucket with clean water is desirable after an appropriate contact time in disinfectant has elapsed. 

When laboratory vacuum is used to manipulate biohazardous materials, a suitable trap must be employed to insure that the laboratory vacuum lines, water aspirator, or vacuum pump do not become contaminated (209). A... 

Research areas. All areas where biohazardous materials are used or stored should be posted with a sign similar to the one in Figure App. 3.1, showing the nature of the hazard, the name(s) of the responsible individ-ual(s), and emergency telephone numbers. The usual location of this type of sign is on the laboratory door. The information is necessary for the protection of service personnel... 

Sun, B. (1993). Comparison of interspecies toxicity of organic chemicals and evaluation of QSAR approaches in toxicity prediction. MS Thesis, Environmental Engineering. New Mexico State University. Thomulka, K. W, McGee, D. J., Lange, J. H. 1993. Detection of biohazardous materials in water by measuring bioluminescence with the marine organism Vibrio harveyi. Journal Environmental Science and Health. A28 2153-2166. 

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