Engineering and Work Practice Controls for the use of Anesthetic Gases during BSL-3 Rabbit Studies

Abstract

Anesthetic gases such as halogenated gases used independently or in conjunction with nitrous oxide are utilized to sedate animals prior to surgery. Acute and chronic exposure to anesthetic gas poses a risk to human health; therefore, appropriate controls must be utilized to protect the health of employees handling anesthetic gases. Engineering controls and work practice controls were developed at the University of Pittsburgh Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) to protect workers from exposure to levels of waste anesthetic gases (WAG) that exceed the recommended exposure limit (REL). Additionally, a decontamination strategy for monitoring badges was developed so that the monitoring badges used in BSL-3 facilities to detect and quantify WAG exposure could be safely analyzed outside of the BSL-3.