Abstract
A review by Hambleton et al.1. recognised public concern about the interrelated problems of the protection of operators to hazardous materials generated by biotechnological activities and protection of the environment from such substances. They considered that the hazard of aerosol generation is probably the most significant posed by biotechnology processes because inhalation is the most likely route whereby process organisms, extrinsic antigens or other products might gain access to the body. Such exposure is not limited to the immediate workers since aerosols might not be confined to the laboratory or factory boundaries and hence could cause illness in surrounding populations. Many process operations in biotechnology facilities and laboratories may cause aerosols to be generated and these have been extensively assessed by Chatigny2. and by Darlow.3. Work done by Harper4. showed that 27% of sealed centrifuge buckets or rotors failed to contain aerosols generated by simulated breakage of centrifuge pots containing viable spores of Bacillus subtilis as a tracer. In a survey of accidents involving the operation of fermenters, Ashcroft and Pomeroy5. showed that the failure of the antifoam system and the breakdown of extract air filters caused the release of aerosols containing micro-organisms. Cameron et al. also showed that if incorrect technique was used to sample suspensions from a fermenter then significant aerosols containing the micro-organisms were produced.
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Benbough, J.E. (1994). Sampling methods for testing and monitoring biosafety of biotechnology equipment and activities. In: Hambleton, P., Melling, J., Salusbury, T.T. (eds) Biosafety in Industrial Biotechnology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1352-6_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1352-6_13
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