Lab coats, goggles, and gloves are the basic precautions you need to take when doing laboratory work. But while they don’t eliminate the risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals during a lab project, ventilation hoods can minimize exposure by removing toxic fumes from the work area.
To ensure a sound working environment and the safety of everyone working inside a lab, it’s essential to install ventilation hoods. From removing light and sophisticated toxic fumes to developing a specialized ventilation system, these fume hoods find various purposes across different laboratories. Additionally, there are several benefits of using these specialized ventilation hoods in laboratories.
Benefits Of Using Ventilation Hoods
While these hoods offer several features, they all have one thing in common: they are all designed to increase workplace safety while improving indoor air quality. For example, most of these hoods have a carbon or HEPA filter capable of removing harmful chemicals from the indoor air, such as ammonia and formaldehyde. Take a look at the benefits of using these Laboratory Ventilation Hoods by Global Lab Supply.
Safety for Researchers
Ventilation is essential for safety in any space where substances are stored or handled that could quickly cause a biological hazard if leaked into the air. When worn properly as part of your lab coat and mask system, ventilation hoods can also protect your eyes and lungs from contact with vapors and mists.
It is possible to encounter toxic fumes in the laboratory as such gases are a side product in different experiments. Although at the same time, masks are there to protect laboratory personnel, it’s still essential to ensure proper ventilation for these toxic fumes. This is where these laboratory fume hoods come into the picture, offering effective management of harmful gases and fumes.
Improved Productivity
Laboratory ventilation hoods also help reduce the research and development’s environmental impact. They can reduce hazardous emissions and waste, including greenhouse gasses, with a properly designed and maintained setup. They also reduce the likelihood of accidental spills or releases of chemicals into the environment.
Lab hoods are meant to direct air at one point so that it is not scattered around the room or concentrated there alone, preventing it from escaping into surrounding areas of a lab space or building. They provide an effective way to remove hazardous fumes from areas where they are being used so that workers do not have to inhale them.
Enhancing safety and productivity
It is essential to ensure proper ventilation of chemicals used by researchers. The right atmosphere can make the atmosphere in your laboratory more conducive for work to be done, and such an environment can improve productivity and the health of laboratory staff and others working nearby.
The more that processes are streamlined and standardized through technology, the easier it is to maintain consistency in your laboratory environment. This is why ventilation hoods can streamline workflow. When you have to place materials in a hood, you can do away with complicated laboratory equipment or time-consuming procedures, not to mention the cost savings from fewer materials used in making products. 4.
Effective solutions for ventilation problems
The same safety and efficiency benefits gained from using these specialized ventilation hoods can also be obtained by simply setting up an efficient fan in the room. But there are a few problems presented by an air circulation system that must be addressed.
The problem with air circulation systems is that they can be overly loud. The noise levels created by fans used as part of an air circulation system are often more than 95 decibels, which can lead to hearing loss and make it difficult for workers to concentrate on their work. Additionally, the fans can create drafts in the room that can disturb sensitive research materials and lead to higher energy costs.
Maintenance-Friendly Solutions
To get the most out of your laboratory ventilation hoods, you need to be able to maintain them easily, so they continue to provide the benefits they were intended to provide. This is why most laboratory ventilation hoods are made of aluminum and are easy to clean. Many also have frosted glass and a quiet operation that makes them completely maintenance-free.
Higher levels of dust in the air created by fans can make it more difficult to breathe through a mask, which leads to fatigue and decreases focus on the work being done; this is why dusting should be done after every use so that you can concentrate on making your discoveries.
Conclusion
Regarding safety, gas byproducts can cause serious health risks for workers and customers. To minimize these risks, ventilation hoods can be used as a part of a sound working environment management system in laboratories. In addition, ventilation hoods offer effective solutions to lab hazards, opening the doors for a more productive and safer workspace.