Biological Risk
Introduction
El centro para el control y prevención de enfermedades (CDC) de los Estados Unidos, específica cuatro niveles de bioseguridad para el manejo de agentes biológicos, los cuales son conocidos como Niveles de bioseguridad del 1 al 4,.
History
El primer prototipo del nivel III fue construido en 1943 por Hubert Kaempf Jr., entonces un soldado del Ejército de EE. UU., bajo la dirección del Dr. Arnold G. Wedum, director (1944-69) de Higiene y Seguridad Industrial en el Laboratorio de defensa de Armas Biológicas de los Estados Unidos, Camp Detrick, Maryland.
On April 18, 1955, fourteen representatives met at Camp Detrick in Frederick, Maryland. The purpose of the meeting was to share knowledge about biological, chemical, and radiological safety, in addition to questioning industrial safety. Due to the possible consequences of the work carried out in biological warfare laboratories, the conference was limited to establishing biosafety levels. Beginning in 1957, these conferences were intended to enable greater exchange of biological safety information. It was not until 1964, however, that the conferences were held at a government facility not associated with a biological warfare program.
Over the next few years, biosafety conferences grew to include representatives from all federal agencies that had sponsored or conducted research with pathogenic microorganisms. In 1966 it began to include representatives of universities, private laboratories, hospitals and industrial complexes. Throughout the 1970s, participation in the conferences continued to grow, and in 1983 discussion began about creating a formal organization. The American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) was officially established in 1984 and the constitution and bylaws were drafted the same year. As of 2008, ABSA includes about 1,600 members of its professional association.
The Levels
Biosafety Level 1
At this level we work with agents that present minimal danger to laboratory personnel and the environment. Access to the laboratory is not restricted and work is usually performed on standard laboratory tables. At this level, no special equipment or specific facility design is required.[1] Staff in these laboratories are generally supervised by a scientist with training in microbiology.