Performance of the original workstation for aerosol tests under controlled conditions

• Published in: Bulletin of RSMU 2018-01 ((4)2018), p.32-38
• Main Authors: Kleymenov, D. A., Verdiev, B. I., Enenko, A. A., Guschin, V. A., Tkachuk, A. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2500-1094; 2542-1204
• DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2018.053

Air quality monitoring is essential when it comes to protecting the urban population, especially that of big metropolises, from biohazards including biopathogens (BPs). This process is aided by different samplers and analyzers of aerosol pollutants, filters and disinfection systems. Their performance is tested using experimental aerosol formulations with a predetermined composition. Unfortunately, the majority of such systems available in Russia are only able to process a few hundred liters of air per time unit, which is too little. Big aerosol chambers (10 to 20 m3) are very expensive and may not fit into a lab, necessitating an extensive overhaul. In this work we present a workstation for the detection of BP markers under controlled conditions based on the microbiological safety box MSB-III-Laminar-C-1.5 (380.150.01) that was originally designed to test the performance of samplers and analyzers of experimental aerosol formulations. Our workstation can handle the majority of BSL-1-2 BPs and, given the chamber volume that satisfies the requirements of aerosol experiments (> 4 m3), can be installed in a lab with an area of >10 m2.