BMBL Appendix H

Biosafety Documents

BMBL Table of Contents

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health wish to express their appreciation to Frank P. Simione, M.S., and Jane Caputo, B.A., of the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), a global bioscience organization dedicated to biological standards and biodiversity, for their contributions to the preparation of this Appendix.

At least 24 documented cases of infection of laboratory workers handling primary cell cultures (e.g., primary rhesus monkey kidney cells) have occurred in the past 30 years.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ While a limited number of laboratory-associated infections have been reported as resulting from the handling of human and other primate cells, there is a more significant risk to acquiring infection with HBV or HIV from exposure to human blood and other body fluids,^(3)(4)(5) and OSHA has developed a bloodborne pathogens standard.⁽⁶⁾ Procedures have been published to reduce contamination of cell cultures with microorganisms⁽⁷⁾⁽⁸⁾or other cells.⁽⁹⁾

Potential Laboratory Hazards. The potential laboratory hazards associated with human cells and tissues include the bloodborne pathogens HBV and HIV, as well as agents such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis that may be present in human lung tissues. Other primate cells and tissues also present risks to laboratory workers.⁽¹⁰⁾ Potential hazards to laboratory workers are presented by cells transformed with viral agents, such as SV-40, EBV, or HBV, as well as cells carrying viral genomic material. Tumorigenic human cells also are potential hazards as a result of self-inoculation.⁽¹¹⁾

Recommended Practices. Human and other primate cells should be handled using Biosafety Level 2 practices and containment. All work should be performed in a biosafety cabinet, and all material should be decontaminated by autoclaving or disinfection before discarding.^{(12)(13)(14)(15)} All employees working with human cells and tissues should be enrolled in the institutional Bloodborne Pathogens Program, and should work under the policies and guidelines established by the institutions' Exposure Control Plan.⁽¹⁶⁾

Employees should provide a baseline serum sample, be offered hepatitis B immunization, and be evaluated by a health care professional following an exposure incident.

References

1. Davidson, W.L. and Hummler, K. 1960. B-virus infection in man. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 85:9970-979

2. National Research Council, 1989. Safe handling of infectious agents. In: Biosafety in the Laboratory, Prudent Practices for the Handling and Disposal of Infectious Material, NRC, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. Pg. 13-33.

3. McGarrity, G.J. and C.L. Hoerner. Biological Safety in the Biotechnology Industry. In: Laboratory Safety: Principles and Practice. ASM Press, Washington, D.C., 1995.

4. Centers for Disease Control. 1988. Update: Universal Precautions for Prevention of Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis B Virus and Other Bloodborne Pathogens in Healthcare Settings. MMWR, 37:377-382, 387, 388.

5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1989. Guidelines for Prevention of Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus to Healthcare and Public Safety Workers. MMWR 38, No. S-6.

6. U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1991. Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens. 29 CFR Part 1910.1030:231-243.

7. McGarrity, G.J. and Coriell, L.L. 1971. Procedures to reduce contamination of cell cultures. In Vitro 6(4):257-265

8. McGarrity, G.J. 1976. Spread and control of mycoplasmal infection of cell culture. In Vitro 12:643-648

9. Nelson-Rees, W.A., Daniels, D.W., and Flandermeyer, R.R. 1981. Cross-Contamination of Cells in Culture. Science 212: 446-452

10. McGarrity, G.J. and C.L. Hoerner. 1995 (3)

11. Weiss, R.A. 1978. Why cell biologists should be aware of genetically transmitted viruses. National Cancer Institute Monograph 48:183-189.

12. Barkley, W.E. 1979. Safety considerations in the cell culture laboratory. Methods Enzymol. 58: 6-54.

13. Grizzle, W.E. and Sarah S. Polt. 1988. Guidelines to avoid personnel contamination by infective agents in research laboratories that use human tissues. Journal of Tissue Culture Methods 11:191-199.

14. Caputo, J.L. 1988. Biosafety procedures in cell culture. Journal of Tissue Culture Methods 11:233-227.

15. Caputo, J.L. Safety procedures. In: R. Ian Freshney and Mary G. Freshney, Eds, Culture of Immortalized Cells, Wiley-Liss, Inc., 1996.

16. Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens (6)