Assessment of aerosol containment on the elite flow cytometer

John Ferbas, Karen R. Chadwick, Alison Logar, Anne E. Patterson, Richard W. Gilpin, Joseph B. Margolick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Biohazardous aerosols generated during cell sorting have been of increased concern recently because of interest in sorting specimens containing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1). Current flow cytometers have features designed to contain such aerosols within the sorting chamber, but the efficacy of these features has not been established. Therefore, we tested aerosol containment by two ELITE flow cytometers (Coulter Cytometry, Inc., Hialeah, FL) during sorting of specimens containing high titers of bacteriophage. Agar plates confluent with susceptible Escherichia coli were used to detect infectious units released from the sorting chamber. Under recommended operating conditions very few infectious units were released from the sorting chambers. Release increased when the center stream was not optimally collected in a vacuum‐exhausted tube or the chamber door was not completely closed. Failure of the negative pressure and high efficiency particle air (HEPA) filtration features had less of an effect. The data indicate that these standard safety features provide a rational expectation of safety for the flow cytometry operator. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)45-47
Number of pages3
JournalCytometry
Volume22
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 15 1995

Keywords

  • Bacteriophage
  • biohazardous aerosol
  • cell sorting
  • flow cytometry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine
  • Biophysics
  • Hematology
  • Endocrinology
  • Cell Biology

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