Maximum containment facility

BL4 or high-risk maximum containment facility. Incorporates the most elaborate equipment, stringent facility design features, and demanding operational protocols to avoid the release of hazardous agents. 

The "P" has been replaced with "BSL" or Biosafety Level. There are four biosafety levels which are defined according to a combination of facility design, laboratory practices and techniques, equipment and health and safety controls. It is not practical to try to completely describe all of the features and definitions pertaining to biocontainment laboratories in a chapter dedicated to an overview of design. Therefore, we will concentrate on the elements of building design for "maximum containment" or BSL-4 facilities. 

A maximum containment laboratory is usually a separate building, although it can be part of another building. To maintain the required security and necessary engineering features, including ventilation and building materials, it is usually more practical to build a separate facility. 

The above elements of BSL-4 design are only the basics. Participation in the design of such a facility is extremely fascinating and difficult. Upon anticipation of such a design it is advisable to contact at least two biosafety experts who have had extensive experience in the development of maximum containment applications. The field of biosafety is rapidly growing with new applications and design criteria developing continually. 

The supply of latrines or excreta containment facilities must be sufficient to accommodate the entire population in need, with a maximum of 20 people per toilet (United Nations High Commission for Refugees, 1994). 

No materials, except for biological materials that are to remain in a viable or intact state, are to be removed from the maximum containment laboratory unless they have been autoclaved or decontaminated before they leave the facility. Equipment ormaterials which may be damaged by high temperatures or steam may be decontaminated by gaseous or vapor methods in an airlock or chamber designed for the purpose. 

In recent times a growing number of research institutes have been equipped with containment units for work with potentially pathogenic micro-organisms containing r-DNA. Thus, in 1990 it was reported that eight institutes in the USSR possessed facilities with maximum containment units (i.e. those designated as P4 or Biosafety Level 4 - BL4) and at least another 12 possessed P3 containment units (see Table 5.1). ... 

Reporting is required to provide the public with information on the release of toxic chemicals from a facility. Facilities must report the quantities of both routine and accidental releases of listed chemicals, as well as the maximum amount of the listed chemical on-site during the calendar year and the amount contained in wastes transferred off-site. This section provides ... 

Insert the appropriate code (see below) that indicates the maximum quantity of the chemicai (e.g., in storage tanks, process vesseis, on-site shipping containers) at yourfaciiity at any time du ring the caiendar year, if the chemicai was present at several locations within your facility, use the maximum total amount present at the entire facility at any one time. 

Calculating the Maximum Quantity of Lead and Lead Compounds. To calculate the maximum amount of lead and lead compounds present at your facility at any one time, you must consider types of metallic load and M types of lead compounds present at your facility, Including stockpiled raw materials, lead and lead oxide present in process equipment, the metallic lead and lead peroxide contained in finished batteries stored on-site, and stockpiled lead scrap. Since the reporting form is being prepared for lead compounds, the maximum amount reported is the total of the inventories of these materials. The maximum amount of metallic lead (2,305,000 pounds), lead oxide (205,000 pounds), and lead peroxide (625,000 pounds) present at your facility is 3,135,000 pounds, which is between 1,000,000 and 9,999,999 pounds. You would therefore report range 06 on Part III, Section 4, of the reporting form. 

It is presumed that the product(s) to be produced is (are) known. The size of the containers it will be shipped in depends on the size of the expected orders, the facilities the customer has for handling the materials, and the hazardous classification of the material. Material shipped in bulk quantity is cheaper than packaged items, but it requires the customer to have more elaborate unloading and storage facilities. Bulk shipping is only used when large amounts are purchased at one time. Union Carbide will not ship in bulk less than 40,000 lb (18,000 kg) of material. Table 3-2 gives a summary of the maximum bulk shipments possible by various carriers. 

Concentrations of lead in water at NPL sites can be at much higher levels. For example, in 1986, an NPL hazardous waste site was identified in Genesee County, Michigan, that contained a landfill and nine surface impoundments. The facility had accepted sludge and residual waste from a chemical warehouse as well as other hazardous wastes. Water samples taken from the impoundments had a maximum lead concentration of 25 mg/L (EPA 1986d). 

Releases may also occur from the use of this chemical in smoke and pyrotechnic devices. Hexachloroethane content of the smoke devices is about 44.5-46% of the total solid material. The smoke device bums, producing smoke which is mainly zinc chloride, but contains some hexachloroethane. It was estimated that about 0.3-5% of the mass of the reagents in the device is released to air as hexachloroethane in the smoke, assuming a 70% bum efficiency (Katz et al. 1980 Novak et al. 1987). On this basis, it was estimated that during 1982-1984, a maximum of about 6,683 kg (14,700 pounds) of hexachloroethane was released to the atmosphere at Fort Irwin, California, a major military training facility (Novak et al. 1987). Hexachloroethane in smoke (aerosol) was measured in a wind tunnel at concentrations ranging from 0.64-1.26 mg/m3 (average 0.89 mg/m3) (Cataldo et al. 1989). 

Where facilities are exposed to the constant radiation of the sun, sun shades are provided over exterior exposed equipment that may not function properly at elevated temperatures or would deteriorate rapidly if left continual exposed to the direct sunlight. Most electrical or electronic equipment is rated for a maximum operating temperature of 40 °C (104 °F) unless otherwise specified, e.g., hazardous area lighting temperatures are normally specified for 40 °C (104 °F) limit. Of particular concern for fire protection systems are those containing storage for foam concentrates rubber hoses or other rubber components which may dry and crack. 

CPU. The central processing unit for the DARS is a Nova Model 1200 by Data General in the United States and Datagen in Canada. The Nova 1200 has a 16-bit word length and a cycle time of 1.2 microseconds. As many as 62 separate devices may be interfaced to the CPU. The basic system contains 4k (4096) words of memory which is expandable up to a maximum of 32k words. Included in the in-out system are facilities for hardware interrupts or a real-time priority basis. 

A similar report is required of any facility with MSDS requirements under OSHA for hazardous chemicals. It must submit one of two different emergency and hazardous chemical inventory forms. Tier I provides aggregate information on each hazardous chemical with the type of health and physical hazards it presents and the estimates of daily quantities at the facility (maximum and average daily amounts). Tier II is the most complete report and contains all information provided in Tier I. It is commonly preferred by government agencies and includes chemical-specific information, such as the following ... 

Although pyrolytic oil contains significant quantities of benzene and toluene that have high value in the pure form, removal of these compounds from the pyrolytic oil requires expensive fractional distillation equipment. Pyrolysis operators have been reluctant to make the capital investment in distillation equipment because the risk is too high and the return on investment is too low. As a result, the pyrolytic oil must be sold as a replacement for Number Six (low priced grade) fuel oil. The oils generated at Conrad s Centralia facility contain a maximum of 1.5 percent sulfur, and have a potential market as blender oils for commercial fuel.1... 

---