Alternatives to fume cabinets

[goneforsix]

Hi

 

I'm intending to run an experiment involving bacterial colonies on agar plates. Unfortunately I do not have access to a fume cabinet or sterile room to keep them in. Are there any alternatives to using a fume cabinet? or does anyone know of any websites or companies that sell good, cheapish secondhand laboratory equipment?

 

Thanks Iain, a uk based lab technician

[DrP]

Can you build or get hold of and restore an old glove box or something?

[CharonY]

The question is do you need a biosafety cabinet, a clean bench, or a fume hood?

Bioafety cabinets are mainly for the protection of the user (laminar vertical flow). They also give a degree of cleanliness (due to HEPA filters) but user protection is the primary function. Fume hoods are an even better protection as it actively sucks in air from the front, away from the user, but they introduce more dirt into it. And finally there are clean benches. The do not protect the user at all, in fact all the stuff gets blown into your face, but due to a clean horizontal flow your sample gets better protection from contamination. Some of the fancier cabinets have a combined vertical and horizontal flow, though. However, neither biosafety cabinet nor clean bench are suitable as a fume hood substitute. Though with certain exception there is no good reason to use a fume hood for bacterial cultivation. It is quite complicated to keep things sterile there.

 

But yeah, if your concern is sterility a clean sterilized glovebox would be a cheap alternative. Also it depends a bit on your bacteria. Fast growing buggers like E. coli and similar that are BSL1 can also be easily cultivated on a clean benchtop while using sterile techniques. Working near a Bunsen burner also helps. The latter is especially important if there is a risk that your lab has spores of some kind around.