Biosafety

4th National Symposium on Biosafety: Working Safely with Research Animals

Risks to Assess when Selecting Clean Benches and Biosafety Cabinets for Animal Research, Baker Company Acumen Newsletter, June 2000

Animal Facility Biosafety Self-Audit Checklist, Princeton University

Rodent Screening: Pathogen Screening of Biological Materials, Emory University Division of Animal Resources, Discusses why tumors, tissues, immortal cell lines, embryonic stem cells, serum andmammalian components of cell culture media used to culture cells that will be inoculated into rodents should be screened for pathogens.

Guidelines for Biomedical Facilities Using Sheep as Research Animals, Health Canada, Office of Laboratory Security, December 2003

Autoclave Safety (top)

Autoclave Procedures, Michigan State University ORCBS

Autoclaves, University of Washington, Environmental Health and Safety, January 2006

UCSF Autoclave Quality Control Program, UCSF Environmental Health and Safety Biological Safety Updates, 1996

Biological Safety Cabinets (top)

Primary Containment for Biohazards: Selection, Installation, and Use of Biological Safety Cabinets, 3nd edition, 2007

Selecting A Biosafety Cabinet, NuAire Guide

Intro to Biological Safety Cabinets, The Baker Company

Technical Bulletin: Discussion of Canopy Versus Hard Connection Of Class II, Type A2 (formerly Type A/B3) Biological Safety Cabinets, Nuaire, December 2003

Biological Sampling (top)

EPA Microbiology Page, This site provides EPA resources relating to sampling for microorganism

Aerotech Laboratories Inc. This commercial site has detailed sampling information for biologicals.

Biosafety Levels and Checklists (top)

Evaluating Biosafety Level Three Laboratories: An In-Depth Look at the Facility, Its Operations, and Documentation, a presentation given at the 2002 AIHCE: Forum 239 EH&S: Lessons Learned at Colleges and Universities by Stephen Kowalewsky

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The 1,2,3's of Biosafety Levels, Johathon Richmond, Ph.D., CDC Office of Health and Safety, Slideset and text of presentation presented at 5th National Symposium on Biosafety: Rational Basis for Biocontainment

CDC Slideset: Biosafety in the Laboratory. Slides are in pdf format

UMDNJ-EOHSS Factsheet: Biosafety Level 2 Checklist

Biosafety Levels of Specific Microorganisms (top)

Agent Summary Statements and Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents and Infected Animals. CDC/NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) 5th Edition, Section VII
Bacterial Agents
   Fungal Agents
   Parasitic Agents
Prions
Rickettsial Agents
Toxin Agents
Viral Agents (other than arboviruses)
Arboviruses and Related Zoonotic Viruses

American Biological Safety Association Risk Group Classification for Infectious Agents (Bacteria, Virus, Fungi, Parasites)

Classification of Human Etiologic Agents on the Basis of Hazard, Appendix B of NIH Guidelines For Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules (NIH Guidelines), April 2003

Material Safety Data Sheets for Infectious Microorganisms from Canada's Health Protection Branch - Laboratory Centre for Disease Control.

Bloodborne Pathogens (top)

The June 29, 2001 edition of the MMWR, Recommendations and Reports, Updated U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines for the Management of Occupational Exposures to HBV, HCV, and HIV and Recommendations
for Postexposure Prophylaxis

APPENDIX A. Practice Recommendations for Health-Care Facilities Implementing the U.S.
Public Health Service Guidelines for
Management of Occupational Exposures to Bloodborne Pathogens

APPENDIX B. Management of Occupational Blood Exposures

APPENDIX C. Basic and Expanded HIV Postexposure Prophylaxis Regimens

The Hepatitis Branch of the Center for Disease Control has a site which details the epidemiology and prevention of Hepatitis A to E in a slide-show format.

OSHA Information on Bloodborne Pathogens

29 CFR 1910.1030 - Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens

Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act

Canada Office of Laboratory Security (top)

Health Canada, Office of Laboratoary Security Canada's national centre of expertise for biosafety and biocontainment, namely the Office of Biosafety (OBS), was amalgamated into the new Office of Laboratory Security from the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC) in June 2000

Health Canada, Laboratory Biosafety Guidelines, 3rd edition, 2004

Quarterly Biosafety Listings, Health Canada, A bibliography of recently published literature relating to biosafety issues, published every three months.

CDC-NIH Guidelines (top)

The CDC-NIH publication, "Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 5th edition" lists the appropriate biosafety levels for numerous microorganisms, and the work practices which should be implemented. (NOTE: For a much more extensive listing of organisms and risk groups, see the NIH document listed under Recombinant DNA).

Errata for Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) - 4th edition (Adobe Acrobat Format)

Cell Culture (top)

Howard Hughes Medical Institute has an online laboratory safety course entitled, Knowing How To Practice Safe Science, which includes a section on Mammalian Cell Culture.

Cell Sorters (Biosafety Issues) (top)

Biosafety Guidelines for Sorting of Unfixed Cells , The International Society of Analytical Cytology Biohazard Working Group, Cytometry 28:99-117 (1997) PDF file

Editorial Introduction to Biosafety Guidelines for Sorting of Unfixed Cells, (PDF File)

Biosafety Concerns for Flow Cytometric HIV Immunophenotyping, Mednet at UCLA

Scripps Biohazard Review Form for Sorting Applications

Containment Facilities(top)

Biosafety Level 3, Physical Containment, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories

Laboratory Security and Emergency Response Guidance for Laboratories Working With Select Agents, CDC, December 6, 2002 / 51(RR19);1-8

Disinfection (top)

Antimicrobial Chemical/Registration Indexes This US Environmental Protection Agency site has listings of EPA's registered antimicrobial products effective against certain blood borne/body fluid pathogens, Mycobacteria spp (tubercle bacteria), human HIV-1 virus, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C virus as well as products classified as sterilizers and products used for medical wastes. The lists are organized alphabetically by product names and by numerical order of their EPA Reg#. Information is current as of December 2, 2002.

CDC References: Inactivation of HIV

Liquid Disinfection Comparison Guide, from the University of Virginia Office of Environmental Health and Safety

WA Rutala & DJ Weber, New Disinfection and Sterilization Methods, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Volume 7, No. 2., CDC, March-April 2001

Equipment - Containment (top)

The equipment listed in this section is provided for information purposes and is not endorsed by the AIHA Laboratory Health and Safety Committee.

Omni aerosol-sealed homogenizers

Freezing/Thawing Specimens (top)

Laboratory Incidents Involving Cryongens, AIHA Laboratory Health and Safety Committee

Cryogenic Materials, East Carolina University Office of Environmental Health and Safety

Fungi (top)

Biosafety Considerations in Handling Medically Important Fungi, Med Mycol. 1998;36 Suppl 1:258-65.

Hazards to Lab Staff Posted By Fungal Pathogens, J Hosp Infect. 1995 Jun;30 Suppl:358-63

Importation Permits for Etiologic Agents, Cell Lines and Live Animals (top)

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Application to Import Etiologic Agents

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)/ Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Application to Import Organisms, Vectors, Cell Cultures or Live Animals

Influenza (top)

Interim CDC-NIH Recommendation for Raising the Biosafety Level for Laboratory Work Involving Noncontemporary Human Influenza Viruses, Excerpted from the draft Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 5th edition.

International Agencies (top)

EBSA, European BioSafety Association

International Veterinary Biosafety Workgroup

Public Health Department, United Kingdom

Institut de Veille Sanitaire, France

Santé Publique : sites francophones

Public Health Agency of Canada,

Health Canada, Office of Laboratory Security, Canada's national centre of expertise for biosafety and biocontainment, namely the Office of Biosafety (OBS), was amalgamated into the new Office of Laboratory Security from the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC) in June 2000

Journals/Bulletins/Surveillance (top)

Journal of the American Biological Safety Association

British Medical Journal

Journal of the American Medical Association

Emerging Infectious Diseases

CDC Wonder

The Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (Promed)

The Research Roundtable - a Newsletter for Clinical Research Investigators, Institutional Review Boards, CROs, SMOs and the Pharmaceutical Industry

EBSA Newsletters

Disease Outbreak News, World Health Organization

Listserv - Biosafety (top)

Biosafty, A Biosafety Discussion Group, is an excellent resource for exchanging biosafety information with colleagues all over the world. For information about subscribing, go to the following url address: http://www.absa.org/resgroups.html

Material Safety Data Sheets for Infectious Substances (top)

Material Safety Data Sheets for Infectious Substances from Canada's Health Protection Branch - Laboratory Centre for Disease Control. The MSDSs are organized to contain health hazard information such as infectious dose, viability (including decontamination), medical information, laboratory hazard, recommended precautions, handling information and spill procedures.

Meningococcal Disease (top)

Laboratory-acquired Meningococcal Disease - United States, 2000 Morbidity and Mortality Weakly Reports (MMWR) February 22, 2002 / 51(07);141-144

Organizations (top)

American Biological Safety Association

European Biological Safety Association

Canadian Infectious Disease Society

World Health Organization

Poliovirus (top)

Materials posted by the American Biological Safety Association regarding the Nationwide Survey for Wild Polioviruses

Press-Ready Announcement of Nationwide Wild Poliovirus Survey October 2002: Who, When, What, Why

Notice: Nationwide Survey of Biomedical Laboratories for Containment of Wild Poliovirus, October 1, 2002

Poliovirus Laboratory Containment Preparedness Part 1

Poliovirus Laboratory Containment Preparedness Part 2

Preventing Polio from Becoming a Reemerging Disease, Panel Summary from the 2000 Emerging Infectious Diseases Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 8, No. 10, October 2002

Global Polio Eradication Initiative - provides information about poliovirus, the disease and eradication strategies and progress

Global Polio Eradication Program

Photo exhibition by Sebastião Salgado, documenting the final stages of the polio eradication campaign in the remaining endemic countries.

Prions (top)

Second possible case of transfusion-transmitted variant CJD, CDR Weekly Volume 14 Number 34, Health Protection Agency, August 19, 2004

Statement of the Swiss Expert Committee for Biosafety on BSE Diagnostics: Classification and Safety Measures, June 2001

Prions- Inactivation, A study by Brown et al., in PNAS 97(7): 3418-21 March 2000 on the heat resistance of hamster-adapted scrapie agent.

Guidelines for Biomedical Facilities Using Sheep as Research Animals, Health Canada, Office of Laboratory Security, December 2003

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents: Safe Working and the Prevention of Infection (Guidance prepared in consultation with HSE, by the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens and by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, May 1998

WHO Factsheet on Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), November 2002

WHO fact sheet on Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, November 2002

Program Content Examples (top)

Yale Biosafety Manual, Yale University Office of Environmental Health and Safety, July 2001

Laboratory Biosafety Self-Audit Checklist, Princeton University

Johns Hopkins Biosafety

Q Fever (top)

Q Fever Summary for Research Personnel, UCSF

Q Fever, Health Canada Occupational Safety and Health Answers, 1999

Q Fever Control Policy, University of Florida, October, 2005

Recombinant DNA Guidelines (top)

NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules, (April 2002). Appendix B of this document has an extensive listing of organisms and biosafety levels. Appendix M pertains to Gene Transfer Protocols.

Notice Regarding Human Gene Transfer, November 19, 2001 Federal Register, Volume 66, Number 223, The actions described in this Notice amend the NIH Guidelines to enhance oversight of human gene transfer research by modifying the requirements for the reporting and analysis of serious adverse events in human gene transfer research studies governed by the NIH Guidelines.

Institutional Biosafety Committees - Information and Resources, NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities

Regulated Medical Waste (top)

CDC Laboratory Waste Disposal Guide Slideset

Managing and Disposing of Medical Waste Fact Sheet, The Office of Environmental Health and Safety, University of California Berkeley, May 2002

Management of Regulated Medical Waste at Cornell University (pdf file) 11/2000

Rutgers University Policy for the Disposal of Biological Waste

Sampling Methods (top)

Bioaerosols Sampling, Indoor Air, NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods, 4th Edition (pdf file)

Aerobic Bacteria by GC-FAME, NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods, 4th Edition (pdf file)

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis - Airborne, NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods, 4th Edition (pdf file)

Recommended Sampling for Microbial Aerosols, from Air Sampling Instruments for Evaluation of Atmospheric Contaminants, 5th edition

Mold Contamination Sampling, EMSL

Indoor Molds: Methods for Monitoring Mold in the Environment,

Select Agents (top)

Destruction of Select Agents, University of Pennsylvania, EHRS,

CDC Select Agent Program and materials

USDA Biological Agents and Toxins materials

ABSA Comments on Select Agent Rule

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Comments on Select Agent Rule

Shipping of Specimens/IATA (top)

FedEx Dangerous Goods Shipping Service Information and forms

Packaging Infectious Substances With or Without Dry Ice, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Environmental Health and Safety, July 2005

Shipping Diagnostic Specimens, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Environmental Health and Safety, August 2005

Shipping Items With Dry Ice That Are Not Dangerous Goods, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Environmental Health and Safety, September 2005

Univeristy of New Hampshire, Office of Environmental Health and Safety publications:

UNH Shipment of Biological Materials Manual, February 2006

UNH Guide to Shipping With Dry Ice, October 2005

The U.S. DOT Small Quantity Exceptions 49 CFR §173.4 -
A supplement to the UNH Shipment of Hazardous Materials Manual, September 2003

Shippers Declaration for Dangerous Goods, created by Andy Globe at UNH-OEHS

Printable Class 9 Label for dry ice

SARS Packaging Diagnostic Specimens for Transport: Summary Instructions, CDC, April 23, 2003

Nitrogen "Dry Shippers," University of Washington, Environmental Health and Safety, TIPS, May 2002

Packaging, Labeling and Shipping Infectious Substances, CDC Division of Laboratory Systems, National Laboratory Training Network

Shipment of Biological and Infectious Material, Cornell Biological Safety

Shipping of Biological Materials, Recombinant DNA and Dry Ice, UMDNJ-EOHSS, January 2005

Saf-T-Pak

Inmark, Inc

Exakt-Pak

IATA Dangerous Goods and Safety Worldwide

World Health Organization (WHO), Transport of Infectious Substances Background to the amendments adopted in the 13th revision of the United Nations Model Regulations guiding the transport of infectious substances, 2004

Interstate Shipping of Etiologic Agents

Transportation of Hazardous Materials: Infectious, Patient Specimens, Biological and rDNA, University of Wisconsin, Office of Biological Safety, January 2005

FAA Regulations in Clinical Research, The Research Roundtable (If the link does not work, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://www.researchroundtable.com/FAA%20Regulations.htm

Training Content Examples (top)

UMDNJ Bloodborne Pathogens/Biosafety Training

Biosafety/Bloodborne Pathogens/Universal Precautions Training , University Nebraska - Lincoln Environmental Health and Safety, Scroll down and click on the appropriate link to access this program which has enjoyable graphics and sound. You will need to have Macromedia flash player installed on your computer to access the training.

Live Virus Worker Web Training, Princeton Univesity, November 2003

Bloodborne Pathogens, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of Environmental Health, Safety & Risk Management

Oklahoma State University Bloodborne Pathogens Online Training Module and Quiz

University of Wisconsin Bloodborne Pathogens Reference and Training Manual

LLNL Working Safely With Blood and Blood-Borne Pathogens Refresher

Howard Hughes Medical Institute has an online laboratory safety course entitled, Practicing Safe Science, which includes sections on Mammalian Cell Culture Hazards, and Working with Human Blood.

Hazardous Materials Shipping and Transportation Awareness Training, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Office of Biological Safety, May 2006

Tuberculosis (top)

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis: Assessing your Laboratory, The Association of State and Territorial Public Health Laboratory Directors and Public Health Practice Program Office, CDC, 1995

Vaccination (top)

June 22, 2001 MMWR, Vaccinia (Smallpox) Vaccine Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2001

December 26, 1997 MMWR, Immunization of Health-Care Workers, Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC)

Vacuum System Protection (top)

Protection of Biosafety Cabinet (Tissue Culture Hood) Vacuum Lines, UCSF Environmental Health and Safety Biological Safety Update, January 1999

Virus-Specific Information (top)

Hantavirus (top)

Laboratory Management of Agents Associated with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: Interim Biosafety Guidelines, MMWR May 13, 1994/Vol.43/No.RR-7

SARS (top)

CDC Interim Laboratory Biosafety Guidelines for Handling and Processing Specimens Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, August 18, 2003

CDC SARS Website

WHO SARS Information

Summary of the Discussion and Recommendations of the SARS Laboratory Workshop 22 October 2003, World Health Organization

SARS Packaging Diagnostic Specimens for Transport: Summary Instructions, CDC, April 23, 2003

West-Nile Virus (top)

Epidemic/Epizootic West Nile Virus in the United States, Revised Guidelines for Surveillance, Prevention and Control, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, April 2001

Laboratory-Acquired West Nile Infections, United States, 2002, MMWR Weekly, December 20, 2002, 51(50);1133-1135

Biosfety Advisory, West Nile Virus, Health Canada, Office of Laboratory Security, June 2003

West Nile information, Health Canada

World Health Organization (top)

Laboratory Biosafety Manual, WHO, 2nd edition, 2003

Revision Date: 2/18/2007
url: http://www2.umdnj.edu/eohssweb/aiha/technical/biosafety.htm