ASSESSMENT OF AEROSOL CONTAINMENT ON THE ELITE FLOW CYTOMETER

Biohazardous aerosols generated during cell sorting have been of incre ased concern recently because of interest in sorting specimens contain ing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Current flow cytomete rs have features designed to contain such aerosols within the sorting chamber, but the efficacy of these features has not been established, Therefore, we tested aerosol containment by two ELITE flow cytometers (Coulter Cytometry, Inc., Hialeah, FL) during sorting of specimens con taining high titers of bacteriophage. Agar plates confluent with susce ptible Escherichia coli were used to detect infectious units released from the sorting chamber, Under recommended operating conditions very few infectious units were released from the sorting chambers, Release increased when the center stream was not optimally collected in a vacu um-exhausted tube or the chamber door was not completely closed, Failu re of the negative pressure and high efficiency particle air (HEPA) fi ltration features had less of an effect, The data indicate that these standard safety features provide a rational expectation of safety for the flow cytometry operator. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.