Biosafety Manual PDF - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Biosafety Manual
IBC-approved version (May 18, 2010)
• The term greenhouse refers to a structure with walls, a roof, and a floor designed and
used principally for growing plants in a controlled and protected environment. The walls
and roof are usually constructed of transparent or translucent material to allow the
passage of sunlight for plant growth. The term greenhouse facility includes the actual
greenhouse rooms or compartments for growing plants, including all immediately
contiguous hallways and head-house areas, and is considered part of the confinement
area.
• The plants covered in Appendix P of the NIH Guidelines include but are not limited to
mosses, liverworts, macroscopic algae, and vascular plants including terrestrial crops,
forest, and ornamental species.
• Plant-associated microorganisms include viroids, virusoids, viruses, bacteria, fungi,
protozoans, certain small algae, and microorganisms that have a benign or beneficial
association with plants, such as certain Rhizobium species and microorganisms known
to cause plant diseases. Microorganisms being modified to foster an association with
plants are also included.
• Plant-associated small animals include those arthropods that have an obligate
association with plants, are plant pests or plant pollinators, or transmit plant disease
agents. They also include other small animals such as nematodes that require the use of
plants to test their biological properties. Microorganisms associated with such small
animals (e.g., pathogens or symbionts) are also included.
A Practical Guide to Containment developed by Virginia Polytechnic and State University is a
good example of how to apply plant BLs in research with greenhouse transgenic plants and
microbes.
4.4.2.3 Vertebrate Animal Containment Levels
Biosafety containment levels and criteria for the use or care of vertebrate animals must be
selected or developed following the risk assessment and covered in the Biosafety Work
Authorization. Laboratory or animal biosafety containment levels must be applied to the work as
follows:
• Laboratory biosafety level criteria should be used for laboratory animals
such as rodents whose size or growth requirements allow the use of
laboratory containment levels specified by the NIH Guidelines. Laboratory
BLs and criteria are discussed in Section 4.4.1 of this manual.
• Animal biosafety levels must be applied when 1) recombinant research
involves larger animals (e.g., nonhuman primates), 2) animals are infected
with human pathogens, or 3) animals may harbor zoonotic agents (see
Table 9 for more information). Acronyms for animal biosafety levels are
BL1-N through BL4-N. In some cases, animal use, animal care, and
hazards at LBNL may not be directly applicable to these established animal biosafety
levels and criteria. In these cases, specific criteria that may be applicable may be
selected, customized, and incorporated into the Biosafety Work Authorization.
Agent summary statements for zoonotic agents in Section VIII of BMBL also recommend
containment levels for laboratory use of zoonotic agents, and for handling animals infected with
the agent.
Printed copies are not official versions of this manual. Before using the printed copy, verify that it is the most current version.
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