Biological Safety / Biosafety Level 1 BSL 1

Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1) is suitable for work involving agents of no known or minimal potential hazard to laboratory personnel and the environment. The laboratory may be integral to general traffic patterns in the building.

Work may be conducted on open bench tops. Special containment equipment is neither required nor generally used. Laboratory personnel shall have specific training in procedures conducted in the laboratory.

Biological Safety / Biosafety Level 2 BSL 2

Biosafety Level 2 is similar to Level 1 and is suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the environment.
 It differs in that
(1) laboratory personnel are specifically trained to handle pathogenic agents and are directed by scientists who are experienced in working with these agents,
(2) access to the laboratory is limited when work is being conducted,
(3) extreme precautions are taken with contaminated sharp items, and
(4) certain procedures that may result in the creation of infectious aerosols or splashes are conducted in biological safety cabinets or other physical containment equipment.

Biological Safety / Biosafety Level 3 BSL 3

Biosafety Level 3 is applicable to clinical, diagnostic, teaching, research, or production facilities in which work is done with indigenous or exotic agents which may cause serious or potentially lethal disease as a result of exposure by the inhalation route. Laboratory personnel have specific training in handling pathogenic and potentially lethal agents, and are supervised by competent scientists who are experienced in working with these agents.

All procedures involving the manipulation of infectious materials are conducted within biological safety cabinet. It is recognized, however, that some existing facilities may not have all the facility features recommended for Biosafety Level 3 (i.e., double-door access zone and sealed penetrations).

In this circumstance, an acceptable level of safety for the conduct of routine procedures, (e.g., diagnostic procedures involving the propagation of an agent for identification, typing, susceptibility testing, etc.), may be achieved in a Biosafety Level 2 facility, providing

 1) the exhaust air from the laboratory room is discharged to the outdoors,
2) the ventilation to the laboratory is balanced to provide directional airflow into the room,
3) access to the laboratory is restricted when work is in progress, and
4) the recommended Standard Microbiological Practices, Special Practices, and Safety Equipment for Biosafety Level 3 are rigorously followed.

Biological Safety / Biosafety Level 4 BSL 4

Biosafety Level 4 is required for work with dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections and life-threatening disease. Agents with a close or identical antigenic relationship to Biosafety Level 4 agents are handled at this level until sufficient data are obtained either to confirm continued work at this level, or to work with them at a lower level. Members of the laboratory staff have specific and thorough training in handling extremely hazardous infectious agents and they understand the primary and secondary containment functions of the standard and special practices, the containment equipment, and the laboratory design characteristics. They are supervised by competent scientists who are trained and experienced in working with these agents. Access to the laboratory is strictly controlled by the laboratory director.

The facility is either in a separate building or in a controlled area within a building, which is completely isolated from all other areas of the building. A specific facility operations manual is prepared or adopted.

Within work areas of the facility, all activities are confined to Class III biological safety cabinets, or Class II biological safety cabinets used with one-piece positive pressure personnel suits ventilated by a life support system. The Biosafety Level 4 laboratory has special engineering and design features to prevent microorganisms from being disseminated into the environment.