Basic safety information
Our lab is classified as BSL 1, which means that this lab uses microbes that have little to no risks to healthy individuals. During our experiment, we will not use any harmful chemicals, but still have a potential risk to be exposed to Acridine pigment and ultraviolet rays.
There are four areas in the laboratory that would be hazardous: general hazards, chemical hazards, microbes as well as waste disposal.
Water, being the most easily facing substance, is often a problem that belongs to general hazards. Wasted water and unpurified water always bring difficulties to the lab researchers since wasted water from labs could severely damage the surrounding environment and unpurified water would affect the result of the experiment. With this hidden danger shown, we will carefully remember to deal with the wasted water with proper technique and method of disposal. Fire, is also a non-negligible danger hidden in the lab. Lighters, alcohol lamps, and candles all normally participate in an experiment. However, if we leave them with no supervision on it. It can start a conflagration, or even blow up the whole lab building. To prohibit this situation from happening, a dry powder fire extinguisher must be located in a fixed position of the laboratory in case of need. Electric equipment, being used usually in the lab, can cause hazards. To prevent electric sparks from causing a fire, we need to make sure that it's turned off before we leave the lab. Based on the needs of our experiments, the temperature of the lab needs to be maintained at a certain temperature. Therefore, the air conditioning is on at all times. Furthermore, we will not place random wires around the lab and always check if the electricity is still on at the end of every day. Gas, being the substance that may be ignored, is the most devastating thing. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane are all toxic to us humans. According to CCTV, every year more than 100 people died because of carbon dioxide unconscious emission. After knowing these dangerous consequences, we must ensure that the air we breathe is harmless. Gas protective masks and keeping the air-ventilated will be our best way to secure us when the issues happen.
Another hazard is waste disposal. To dispose of waste that has germs or any active bacteria, all of the equipment used as well as the waste will go through the process of inactivation to avoid contamination. To dispose of waste without germs, the waste will be sorted into three categories. Domestic garbage, hazardous garbage as well as experiment waste. All domestic garbage will be disposed into a black trash can, hazardous garbage such as chemicals left from experiments will be put into a blue trash can, experiment waste such as masks and gloves will be put into a yellow trash can.
To prevent harm, we will wear gloves when using the Acridine pigments and mustn’t stay in a room with ultraviolet rays for more than twenty minutes.
Warning for chemical reagents in primary biology lab
every test tube needs to clean up after being used.
the student who uses chemical items needs to sign up on the list.
attention to the explode chemical item.
The storage of inorganic chemical reagents shall be separated from that of organic chemical reagents.
Hazardous chemical reagents need to be stored in a special room for hazardous chemical experiments.
Toxic chemicals need to wear gloves for experiments.
Radioactive chemical reagents shall not be used in the room for more than 20 minutes.
The Microorganism
We need to cultivate multiple strains in the experiment. We should not only ensure the surrounding environment of the Petri dish but also pay attention to disinfection during the experiment to prevent microorganisms from causing harm to the human body.
In this project, we only use Escherichia coli DH5α which is commonly used bacteria strain during biology experiments since it is quite safe to use compared to other bacterial kinds.