What are biosafety levels?
Generally speaking, biosafety levels are a combination of laboratory practices and procedures, safety equipment and laboratory facilities. The designation of an appropriate biosafety level for work with a particular organism is based on a risk assessment and includes a number of factors, such as infectivity or pathogenicity, biological stability, route of transmission, and communicability of the agent. Additional factors consider the nature of the laboratory, procedures for use of the organism, quantities and concentration, and availability of effective prevention measures or treatment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently describe four biosafety levels (BSLs or BLs) in their reference guide “Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories” (commonly referred to as BMBL). This document is available online at http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl4/bmbl4toc.htm. The basic features of the different biosafety levels are outlined very succinctly in Table 1 (htt
Related Questions
- What biosafety levels of containment are currently being used for recombinant research with 1918 influenza viruses, highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, and SARS-CoV?
- What biosafety levels of containment do the NIH Guidelines and BMBL recommend for research with influenza viruses and SARS-CoV?
- What are the various biosafety levels and what does each one imply?
