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Selecting the Right Lab Safety Equipment
Differences Between Biosafety Cabinets, Laminar Flow Hoods, and Chemical Flow Hoods
Every lab worker knows a clean lab is a safe lab. Wiping down and sterilizing cabinets and counters is a given. The air must also be kept clean of dangerous substances. Laboratories require special ventilation systems in order to protect workers and sample materials from contamination. While some labs only need some extra ventilation, other labs operate as “clean rooms” and must be kept sterile at all times. PSA Laboratory Furniture has chemical fume hoods, laminar flow devices, and biological safety cabinets to keep your lab’s air clean.
Learn more about these three ventilation options and how they work.
Chemical Fume Hoods
Chemical fume hoods play a vital role in containing or removing hazardous fumes, vapors or radioactive materials from laboratories. Hoods ventilate contaminants that would otherwise be a danger to lab workers. Fume hoods must be properly installed, tested, and certified to meet federal safety standards.
Fume hoods are found in labs across every industry. They can be found in school laboratories to protect students from dangerous experiments or professional government labs serving the top minds of the nation.
Laminar Flow Hoods
Laminar flow hoods operate in a similar fashion to chemical fume hoods. Air is moved through the hood to keep the work area beneath free from contamination. So while chemical fume hoods are meant to protect the lab personnel from dangerous substances, the laminar flow hood is meant to protect the samples within from the lab.
Laminar flow is mostly used when handling sensitive materials including biological samples. As a result, most are made with stainless steel to remain sterile. They use HEPA filtration units or similar methods to scrub the air.
Biosafety Cabinets
Biological safety cabinets (BSC) are similar to chemical and laminar hoods as they are designed to ventilate labs. However, BSC are intended to remove airborne biological pathogens. Classes I, II, and III are designed to ventilate different types of pathogens. As such, BSC are meant to protect the lab workers and the samples.
Order Laboratory Hoods and Safety Cabinets
PSA Laboratory Furniture designs and installs fume hoods, laminar flow devices, and biological safety cabinets for laboratories around the world. Our wide selection of high performance fume hoods include snorkel hoods, Variable Air Volume (VAV) hoods, and perchloric acid fume hoods.
Some design options for your new fume hoods include:
- Energy-efficient hoods and technology
- Vertical or horizontal sashes
- Explosion-proof construction
Request more information on safety equipment for your laboratory from our expert lab furniture designers.
After your fume or flow hood is installed we provide ventilation system testing and certification. PSA holds membership in the Controlled Environment Testing Association (CETA) and we offer clean room ventilation standards testing to check:
- Airborne Particle Counting – ISO14644-1 (Federal Standard 209E optional)
- HEPA Filter Leak Test (where possible)
- Air Velocity/Volume Measurements (HEPA Filters)
- Calculating Air Exchange Rate/Hour
- Clean Room Pressurization Test
- Makeup Air Volume Test