Laboratory safety or introduction to the virology laboratory

Purpose

To avoid risk factors for ourselves and the environment. We take precautionary measures for both viruses and their culture medium. Most viruses are studied in BSL-2. These laboratories are designed by the Center for disease control and prevention (CDC).

BSL-1


                We study harmless microbes in this laboratory. E.g., Non-pathogenic type of E-coli.

BSL-2


                This lab. Deals with moderate risk pathogens. These microbes can cause disease. E.g., Influenza virus, HIV, etc.

BSL-3


                This laboratory deals with those microbes that are transmitted through aerosol and contaminate the environment directly. They cause a lethal type of disease. E.g., Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

BSL-4


                This lab deals with those microbes that are transmitted through aerosol and infect a person and the environment. They cause life-threatening conditions. E.g., Ebola.

Requirements for BSL-2


  1. No eating, drinking, smoking and applying cosmetics.
  2. Unauthorized persons are not allowed.
  3. Mouth pipetting is not allowed.
  4. Hand sanitization before and after work.
  5. Working in gloves should be careful.
  6. Do not touch eyes, nose, face, and mouth.
  7. Lab coats should be kept in the laboratory after wearing and working.
  8. Every material should be labeled properly.
  9. Before discarding the contaminated material, it should be autoclaved.
  10. Viruses should not be disposed of directly.
  11. Cages that contain infected animals should be disinfected or autoclaved.
  12. The stock solution of disinfectants and anti-dots should be available in lab.
  13. Incinerate infected animal dead bodies.
  14. Deal with viruses in the bio-safety hood or in properly caped boxes for the prevention of aerosol transmission.
  15. Do not expel the last amount of media from the pipette.
  16. Do not take biological materials at home
  17. Contaminated sharp things should be handled carefully.
  18. Media used for viruses should be sterilized in an autoclave at 121oC for 15 minutes at a pressure of 15 Psi.
  19. Glass sphere should be sterilized in a hot air oven at 160-170oC for 30 minutes.
  20. Membrane filter paper (pore size 0.001 um to 0.1 um) is used to filter the liquid from viruses.
  21. Disinfect the working surface.

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