Team:Valencia-CIPF/Safety

Safety

1. Concerning our institution.
   The Polytechnic University of Valencia (as well as the Catholic University and CIPF) has a solid manual of good laboratory practices, covering several aspects such as signalling, cleaning, waste management, security, emergency situations and more. Our team has worked according to this manual and under the supervision of the experts in the lab.
   
   
2. Safety in the lab.
   As in every lab, conventional protection is used: gloves, lab coat and glasses if necessary. Such items of equipment avoid contaminations and also protect the worker and the environment.
   
   
   Figure 2. Gloves, glasses and lab coat.
   
   Concerning management of waste, chemical and biological waste must be managed properly before disposal.
   
   When biological residues are produced, like petri dishes with microorganisms, they must be autoclaved before being discarded in the classical way.
   
   In the case of chemical waste, it must be stored in special tanks to be managed by specialist on a monthly basis together with all similar waste produce in in the same campus or organization.
   
   
   Figure 3. Container for a chemical waste.
   
   In spite of the lack of safety experts in our team, we have been lucky to work in a laboratory where all protocols and equipments were ready to ensure safety. The biosafety level of our lab is 2.
   
   
3. Regarding our microorganisms
   The two organisms used in our lab were E. coli and S. cerevisiae.
   
   E. coli is a gram-negative enterobacterium naturally found in the colon of warm-blooded organisms. It can be a potential pathogen for humans, as some strains are the cause of serious food poisoning in humans. The strain used in our lab was DH5 alpha, which belong to the risk group 1, so good laboratory practises were applied to avoid possible contaminations.
   
   S. cerevisiae is a unicellular yeast. The strain used was BY4741, which is in risk group 1.
   
   Our construct does not raise any safety issues. It can neither give pathogenicity to the microorganisms where it is inserted nor encode for any toxin.
   
   The devices used in our project should also represent no hazard for public health or environmental safety, and it should not suppose a problem due to the fact that it is a decorative device and it does not require to be manipulated. In any case, it could involve an ethic problem since yeast is a widely well-known microorganism, but it will be genetically modified.
   
   
4. Management of chemicals
   We got separated racks for every kind of chemical product used, besides ensure all products were properly labelled.
   
   In addition, we had a special and isolated room for the use of EtBr, as it is highly mutagenic and dangerous for users. This room was fully equipped with special glasses and gloves to prevent contamination of the rest of the lab by this reactant. Special bins were also used for the gels.
   
   
   Figure 4. The gels used in electrophoresis and etBR, require special containers.
   
   
   Figure 5. Important symbols in a laboratory.
   
   
5. Is there a local biosafety group, committee or review board at your institution?
   Yes, each University has its own and in the case of the Polytechnic University there is a special group, the “Occupational safety and health service”.
   
   Our group attended a safety tour of our lab once we settled in. The tour consisted of guidance with regards to biohazardous material, toxic chemicals, the ethidium bromide room, the disposal of sharps and fire safety procedures. We have also worn gloves and lab coats when carrying out wet labwork and practise regular workbench-cleaning and hand-washing.
   
   We were always supervised by one of ours instructors, advisors or lab technicians of the Principe Felipe center to ensure good laboratory practice.
   
   
6. Our project... trying to imagine a safer world
   Some household fresheners that require heat to diffuse scent (burning oils, incense and, to a lesser extent, scented candles) worsen air quality by emitting excessive levels of toxins, allergens or contaminants, according to a study released today by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU). The heating or combustion of its ingredients, usually natural but sometimes synthetics, produces emissions that are dangerous when they exceed certain concentrations.
   
   In the study, several fresheners were studied and it was revealed that all incense and one of the analyzed oils emitted high levels of benzene, a chemical compound that can be carcinogenic. In the worst case, 490 micrograms per cubic meter of this material were measured, compared to 60 emitted by a cigarette. High levels of formaldehyde were also found in two incenses and three oils. In the most extreme case, the level of 5,000 micrograms per cubic meter was surpassed (the average in a smoking bar is 182).
   
   Consumer organizations have been warning for years about the need to regulate emissions of air fresheners. In our team, apart from trying to create the basis for a future model to prevent diseases like malaria in underdeveloped countries, we aim to try to eliminate the use of these compounds that are harmful to people and make people understand that sometimes natural products may be worse for their health than modified ones.
   
   Source: “El País”
   
   
   Figure 6. In a dresser like this, is what our project is based.