Laboratory Air Handling Equipment

Laboratory air handling equipment is used to protect specimens and laboratory staff from contamination. Products include fume hoods, biological safety cabinets, environmentally controlled rooms and clean benche. Suppliers of laboratory air handling equipment are located across the United States and around the world. They conform to a variety of regulatory requirements and quality standards.

Laboratory air handling equipment includes many different types of fume hoods and fume hood components. A laboratory fume hood is designed to contain and exhaust fumes, vapors, mists, and particulate matter generated within a hood interior. A fume cupboard is a laboratory fume hood component that protects personnel from exposure to chemicals and other airborne hazardous materials. An essential laboratory air handling equipment component, a laboratory fume cupboard is a ventilated box with an adjustable opening curtain (or sash) that moves the air past the operator and up the exhaust stack to reduce exposure. A chemical fume hood is an enclosure that minimizes exposure to chemical vapors in particular. In these environments, it is important to keep fume exhaust hood fans running at all times. A ductless fume hood is another piece of laboratory air handling equipment that provides hooded type enclosure on a laboratory work surface. A powerful fan on top of the hood is combined with a variety of filters to provide strong suction across the work area.

Laboratory air handling equipment includes biological safety cabinets which are designed to contain infectious agents in laboratories. There are three biological safety cabinet classes (Class I, II, III) that provide for different levels of protection and characteristics. A Class I biological safety cabinet is designed for low to moderate risk agents. Class II biological safety cabinets are built for microbiological research in the absence of or in the presence of volatile or toxic chemicals and radionuclides. Finally, a Class III biological safety cabinet provides a totally enclosed, ventilated cabinet of gas-tight construction for the highest degree of personnel and environmental protection from infectious aerosols and microbiological contaminants.

There are many applications for laboratory air handling equipment. For example, in a welding fume environment, exposure in the workplace can be reduced by the use of fume extraction equipment. This type of laboratory air handling equipment includes a ducted fume cupboard, which protects laboratory operators from exposure to harmful toxic vapors, gases, fumes, and other harmful airborne compounds by employing a horizontal airflow cleansed work surface inside the fume enclosure.

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