Team:Rotterdam HR/Safety
iGEM Rotterdam HR 2019
Safety
General Safety
Our laboratory work for our project is carried out in an ML-1 lab. An ML-1 lab is the equivalent of a BSL-1 lab, which is considered the lowest level of biosafety of the microbiology laboratory, where we work with non-pathogenic microorganisms. All our work has been done in BSL-1 areas on the Rotterdam University of Applied Science (RUAS). To ensure that all of our team members were aware of how they should work in a BSL-1 environment, our beloved supervisor made sure that all of our team members know what to do by giving us a lab tour.
We received basic lab safety measures, for some of us well known but completely new to others of the team.
Here are our safety rules for the BSL-1 area’s:
1. Lab coats: everyone in the lab wears a buttoned white coat with long sleeves.
No lab coats in the hall, unless you are walking with dangerous or contaminated materials.
2. Jewelry: no hand and wrist jewelry (rings, bracelets, watches).
3. Clothing: Cover your legs and feet completely (unless you only have to work with the microscope). Scarves and headscarves only made of cotton and always tucked away in the jacket to prevent any accidents with the Bunsen burner. Caps are allowed, but only with the flap at the back.
4. Wash hands: upon arrival and on departure with soap and water. Dry with paper towels.
5. Lab room: no bags on the table; put them under the coat rack or in the lockers.
Waste is disposed in designated waste container. In the unlikely event of spillage, report this directly to the teacher or instructor.
6. Tables: clean with 70% alcohol on arrival and departure, no unnecessary items on the table; only lab supplies and writing material.
7. Food and drinks: No food or drinks at the lab, so no chewing gum etc.
8. Security: long hair must be worn in a ponytail. Wear glasses when working with the flame and hazardous chemicals. Gloves for certain hazardous chemicals.
Apart of the lab tour we were given, we had to make a test where we needed to know all of the safety measures and locations on the floor map where these safety measures are located.
Working in the BSL-1 laboratories
To reduce contamination risks and to prevent incidents, we made sure that we consistently worked under the BSL-1 rules from the University of Applied Science. In special cases we had to work in a fume cupboard because of gases or any evaporation of chemicals that we used.
Our hosts
Throughout the project, we used strains of organisms that were considered safe and did not pose a health risk, we exclusively worked with Escherichia coli as host organism. The strains used are DH5α, BL21(DE3), NEB10ß and Rosetta which are considered non-pathogenic to humans (Risk Group 1) and are therefore all on the ‘iGEM White List’. The Safety Data Sheets provided by the manufacturers confirm that it is sufficiently safe to work with these organisms under BSL-1 conditions.
Safety by design
When it comes to safety in our design, we have been in contact with stakeholders from several relevant expertise. For example, we extended our outreach with the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). During the discussion, we realized that having a cell-free application would ultimately be the safest approach for our purpose. When our system is complete, it will function without the use of cells.
Our system and the environment
The nitrocefin compound that we use as our detection material is less safe than we would have wanted it to be. We have contacted several companies and came into contact with Arie Hooimeijer, who is the CEO of Bumaga. He gave us a lot of insight into the possible alternatives to the method of detection. He presented one of his ideas, where with the help of a small card with built-in wire work, the detection takes place instead of a disk with chemicals.
