Blending, Grinding, Sonicating, Lyophilizing

Use the following practices to prevent aerosols when using blenders, grinders, sonicators, lyophilizers, or similar equipment:

• Blenders, grinders, sonicators, lyophilizers, etc. should be operated in a biosafety cabinet whenever possible.
• Safety blenders should be used. Safety blenders are designed to prevent leakage from the bottom of the blender jar and to withstand sterilization by autoclaving. They also provide a cooling jacket to avoid biological inactivation.
• Avoiding glass blender jars prevents breakage. If a glass jar must be used, it must be covered with a polypropylene jar to contain the glass in case of breakage.
• A towel moistened with disinfectant must be placed over the top of the blender while operating. This practice can be adapted to grinders and sonicators as well.
• Aerosols must be allowed to settle for five minutes before opening the blender jar (or grinder or sonicator container).
• Lyophilizer vacuum pump exhaust should be filtered through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters or vented into a biosafety cabinet.
• Polypropylene tubes should be used in place of glass ampoules for storing biohazardous material in liquid nitrogen. Ampoules can explode, causing eye injuries and exposure to the biohazardous material.