Share thisAllergens can cause irritating skin and respiratory disorders. One way to minimise allergens in the laboratory is through the use of animal containment workstations.
Laboratory animals have always played a large part in day to day activity in laboratory life—especially in those labs that perform medical research. However, the animals can have a negative effect upon the health of the people that work with them daily.
Of all the activities that require direct interaction, the most problematic by far is the cage changing procedure. During this procedure, the laboratory worker must interact with large amounts of collected animal waste and other animal byproducts. This is the reason why safe work practices, personal protective equipment, caging equipment, and other complementary materials and accessories are crucial in this procedure. Though these types of protection may secure the laboratory worker while doing the cage changing procedure, what about the environment surrounding them? This is where the animal containment cage changing and bedding disposal workstations are needed.
In this article, we will discuss more on the concerns with handling laboratory animals and how these workstations can help workers avoid those dangers.
ALLERGENS
Allergic reactions to animals are among the most common conditions that adversely affect the health of workers involved in the care and use of animals in research. “An estimated 10% of laboratory workers eventually develop occupation-related asthma. Information from 159 American institutions and 93 facilities from 20 other nations indicated that an effective program to control the problem of occupational allergy to laboratory animals remains to be developed. It has been demonstrated that three-quarters of all institutions with laboratory animals had animal-care workers with allergic symptoms”1.
About 33% of animal handlers have allergic symptoms, and approximately 10% have symptoms of animal-induced asthma. Animals or animal products such as dander, hair, scales, fur, saliva, and body wastes contain powerful allergens that can cause both respiratory and skin disorders. Workers at risk include laboratory animal and veterinary technicians, researchers, veterinarians, and others who have prolonged, close association with animals or their secretions or excretions. Also at risk are workers who handle animal products or associated materials such as bedding and feed.
Inhalation is one of the most common ways for allergens to enter the body. After a period of time (often several months, but occasionally many years), workers may inhale sufficient quantities of allergens to become sensitised to it and they can develop symptoms that flare up when exposed, even to tiny amounts of the allergen. Airbourne exposure to dust derived from animals is not currently regulated to protect workers from developing allergic problems.
Symptoms vary among workers who have become sensitised to animals. Mild reactions include sneezing and runny nose. More serious reactions to an inhaled allergen may result in asthma symptoms such as coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, or shortness of breath. In rare and severe cases, anaphylactic reactions (including shock) may develop. In sensitised workers, reactions often occur soon after exposure to the animal or animal product, but may be delayed for 2 to 8 hours or more.