Microbiology Labs

Negative Pressure Cleanrooms

Hazardous Process and "Explosion proof" Facilities

Some cleanrooms are required to be operated at negative air pressure for hazardous processes using chemicals and flammable and potentially explosive liquids and powders to prevent these chemical or powders from escaping into the surrounding space.

Allied Cleanrooms will design and build interior application biosafety laboratories from level 1-3. Projects that incorporate level 3 enhanced safety precautions can incorporate our modular panel systems on a case by case basis. NIH, DOD, and other public private laboratory organizations are serviced. Please contact us to discuss your project with our design team.

Bio-Safety Level 1

General Clean Laboratories. This level is suitable for work involving well-characterized agents not known to consistently cause disease in healthy adult humans, and of minimal potential hazard to laboratory personnel and the environment .It includes several kinds of bacteria and viruses including Canine Hepatitis, Escherichia Coli, Varicella (Chickenpox), as well as some cell cultures and non-infectious bacteria.

Bio-Safety Level 2

BSL 2 General Clean Laboratories normally operate at marginal cleanliness levels with slight negative air pressure.

This level is similar to Biosafety Level 1 and is suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the environment. It includes various bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as C. diff, Hepatitis A, B, and C, Influenza A, Lyme Disease, Dengue Fever, Salmonella, Mumps, Bacillus Subtilis, Measles, HIV, [8] Scrapie, MRSA, VRSA, etc. Genetically modified organisms have also been classified as level 2 organisms, even if they pose no direct threat to humans. This designation is used to limit the release of modified organisms into the environment. Approval by the FDA is required to release these organisms. An example is genetically modified food crops. These labs operate at marginal cleanliness levels with slight negative air pressure.

Bio-Safety Level 3

BSL 3 bio-hazard containment labs operate at various cleanliness levels with 100% once-through air pass, specific negative air pressure levels with automatic pressure control, and 100% exhaust through a HEPA filter system.

This level is applicable to clinical, diagnostic, teaching, research, or production facilities in which work is done with indigenous or exotic agents which may cause serious or potentially lethal disease after inhalation. It includes various bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as Anthrax, West Nile Virus, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, SARS, Tuberculosis, Typhus, Coxiella Burnetii, Rift Valley Fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Yellow Fever. It is recognized that some existing facilities may not have all the facility features recommended for Biosafety Level 3 (i.e., double-door access zone and sealed penetrations). In this circumstance, an acceptable level of safety for the conduct of routine procedures, (e.g., diagnostic procedures involving the propagation of an agent for identification, typing, susceptibility testing, etc.), may be achieved in a biosafety level 2 facility, providing:

1. The filtered exhaust air from the laboratory room is discharged to the outdoors.
2. The ventilation to the laboratory is balanced to provide directional airflow into the room.
3. Access to the laboratory is restricted when work is in progress.
4. The recommended standard microbiological practices, special practices, and safety equipment for Biosafety Level 3 are rigorously followed.