We’ve assembled some guidance for doing your experiment with Biosafety Lab 2 (BSL2) organisms — when your school doesn’t have a BSL2-certified lab.
Some reasons you need to use a level 2 BSL:
- You are using an organism deemed BSL2 level by the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC).
- The petri dish needs to be opened for subculturing or counting colonies, and it contains a BSL1 organism, or an unknown organism.
- You are using an antibiotic-resistant BSL1 bacteria or a fungi that is resistant to fungal medication. This resistance automatically makes the organism BSL2 level.
- You use blood, or blood products that are not your own.
Ways to alter your experiment to avoid a BSL2 designation:
- Redesign the experiment so you don’t have to open the petri dish that contains a BSL1, medication resistant, or unknown organism.
- If you are analyzing soil or water, a good alternative is to purchase PCR primers from MO BIO, such as UltraClean® PCR Clean-Up Kits. This kit will clean up the sample, and then you use a facility with a PCR instrument even if it lacks a BSL2 hood. The primers can identify what is in the sample without having to culture the sample.
Requirements for a BSL2 lab:
All BSL2 labs must provide these barriers to in order to qualify as a BSL2 lab.
Primary barriers — Required personal protective equipment:
- gloves
- goggles
- gowns
- lab coats
- etc.
Secondary barriers — The lab’s physical construction must include:
- Self-closing doors
- No carpets
- Sinks for hand washing
- All surfaces non-porous for easy cleaning
- Eyewash stations
- A BSL2 certified hood. This hood must have a HEPA filter and be tested annually.
When you think you’ve found a BSL2 lab for your experiment, have the facility complete this checklist (or the original checklist from ISEF) to confirm that it meets these standards. And photograph the HEPA certification label on the hood so there’s no question that this is a BSL2 lab.
Finding a BSL2 lab:
The State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa has a Certified Laboratories Facility Search: “You can generate a facility list of laboratories currently certified by IDNR under one or more of Iowa’s environmental laboratory certification programs….”
The most common place you will find a BSL2 lab is a Regulated Research Institution (RRI). Colleges, universities, private labs and governmental labs will typically have a BSL2 certified hood. Some hospitals may have a BSL2 hood, but not all will have one. In addition, public wastewater treatment plants will not usually have a BSL2 hood either. You can reach out to these facilities and ask if they’d be willing to host you for a brief amount of time.