General Technical Bulletin

Discussion of Concurrent Balance Value of Class II, B1 and B2 Biosafety Cabinets

William Peters


The field certification of Biological Safety Cabinets (BSC’s) as required in Annex F of the NSF/ANSI 49 class II biosafety cabinetry standard is based on the principle of replication. To assure the BSC is operating within it’s design and biological containment performance tested range, the field certifier is required to use the same test instruments and procedures as both NSF and the manufacturer have used during the biological containment testing (type testing) at NSF. This replication of both the test instruments and procedure assures the BSC user the level of containment performance established by the standard since it’s inception in 1976. However with the emphasis on replication and the use of specific test instruments and procedures, the airflow measurement results for the certification of BSC’s can be suspect for other uses. The selection of test instruments and procedures for the airflow measurement of BSC’s has always had many challenges. This is especially true of class II, type B1/B2 BSC’s that are direct connected to an exhaust system. The inflow measurement methods for these cabinets have in history been performed using many different methods.

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About the Author

William Peters

William Peters is Vice President of Engineering at Nuaire Inc. William Peters holds a BS degree in Manufacturing Engineering as well as over 30 years of experience in the field of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical containment equipment. William is a member of the NSF/ANSI standard 49 Joint Committee on Biosafety Cabinetry, the NSF Biosafety Cabinet Field Certifier Steering Committee, the NIOSH Hazardous Drug Workgroup, the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American Glove box Society (AGS) and is a past president of the Controlled Environmental Testing Association (CETA). William has written and presented various papers on Containment Technology, Decontamination, Laboratory Ergonomics and many related topics.