Misplaced Pages

Part of a series on
Pollution
Air pollution from a factory
Air Acid rain Air quality index Atmospheric dispersion modeling Chlorofluorocarbon Combustion Exhaust gas Haze Global dimming Global distillation Indoor air quality Non-exhaust emissions Ozone depletion Particulates Persistent organic pollutant Smog Soot Volatile organic compound
Biological Biological hazard Genetic Illegal logging Introduced species Invasive species
Digital Information
Electromagnetic Light Ecological Overillumination Radio spectrum
Natural Ozone Radium and radon in the environment Volcanic ash Wildfire
Noise Transportation Health effects from noise Marine mammals and sonar Noise barrier Noise control Soundproofing
Radiation Actinides Bioremediation Depleted uranium Nuclear fission Nuclear fallout Plutonium Poisoning Radioactivity Uranium Radioactive waste
Soil Agricultural Land degradation Bioremediation Defecation Electrical resistance heating Illegal mining Soil guideline values Phytoremediation
Solid waste Advertising mail Biodegradable waste Brown waste Electronic waste Foam food container Food waste Green waste Hazardous waste Industrial waste Litter Mining Municipal solid waste Nanomaterials Plastic Packaging waste Post-consumer waste Waste management
Space Space debris
Thermal Urban heat island
Visual Air travel Advertising clutter Overhead power lines Traffic signs Urban blight Vandalism
War Chemical warfare Herbicidal warfare Agent Orange Nuclear holocaust Nuclear fallout Nuclear famine Nuclear winter Scorched earth Unexploded ordnance War and environmental law
Water Agricultural wastewater Biosolids Diseases Eutrophication Firewater Freshwater Groundwater Hypoxia Industrial wastewater Marine Monitoring Nonpoint source Nutrient Ocean acidification Oil spill Pharmaceuticals Freshwater salinization Septic tanks Sewage Shipping Sludge Stagnation Sulfur water Surface runoff Turbidity Urban runoff Water quality Wastewater
Topics History Pollutants Heavy metals Paint
Misc Area source Brain health and pollution Debris Dust Garbology Legacy Midden Point source Waste Toxic Lists Diseases Law by country Most polluted cities Least polluted cities by PM2.5 Treaties Most polluted rivers Categories By country
Environment portal Ecology portal
v t e

A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat (or is a hazard) to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect human health. A biohazard could also be a substance harmful to other living beings.

The term and its associated symbol are generally used as a warning, so that those potentially exposed to the substances will know to take precautions. The biohazard symbol was developed in 1966 by Charles Baldwin, an environmental-health engineer working for the Dow Chemical Company on their containment products. It is used in the labeling of biological materials that carry a significant health risk, including viral samples and used hypodermic needles. In Unicode, the biohazard symbol is U+2623 (☣).

ANSI Z535/OSHA/ISO regulation

Biohazardous safety issues are identified with specified labels, signs and paragraphs established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Today, ANSI Z535 standards for biohazards are used worldwide and should always be used appropriately within ANSI Z535 Hazardous Communications (HazCom) signage, labeling and paragraphs. The goal is to help workers rapidly identify the severity of a biohazard from a distance and through colour and design standardization.

Biological hazard symbol design:

• A red on white or white-coloured background is used behind a black biohazard symbol when integrated with a DANGER sign, label or paragraph.
• An orange on black or white-coloured background is used behind a black biohazard symbol when integrated with a WARNING sign, label or paragraph.
• A yellow on black or white-coloured background is used behind a black biohazard symbol when integrated with a CAUTION sign, label or paragraph.
• A green on white or white-coloured background is used behind a black biohazard symbol when integrated with a NOTICE sign, label or paragraph.

DANGER is used to identify a biohazard that will cause death. WARNING is used to identify a biohazard that may cause death. CAUTION is used to identify a biohazard that will cause injury, but not death. NOTICE is used to identify a non-injury biohazard message (e.g. hygiene, cleanup or general lab policies).

OSHA requires the use of proper ANSI HazCom where applicable in American workplaces. States and local governments also use these standards as codes and laws within their own jurisdictions. Proper use of ANSI Z535 signs, labels and paragraphs are written into many of OSHA's standards for HazCom and crafted to integrate with ISO symbols.

Reference ANSI Z535 for a complete description on how to use DANGER, WARNING, CAUTION and NOTICE signs, labels or paragraphs.

UN/ISO Classification

Biohazardous agents are classified for transportation by UN number:

• Category A, UN 2814 – Infectious substance, affecting humans: An infectious substance in a form capable of causing permanent disability or life-threatening or fatal disease in otherwise healthy humans or animals when exposure to it occurs.
• Category A, UN 2900 – Infectious substance, affecting animals (only): An infectious substance that is not in a form generally capable of causing permanent disability or life-threatening or fatal disease in otherwise healthy humans and animals when exposure to themselves occurs.
• Category B, UN 3373 – Biological substance transported for diagnostic or investigative purposes.
• Regulated Medical Waste, UN 3291 – Waste or reusable material derived from medical treatment of an animal or human, or from biomedical research, which includes the production and testing.

Levels of biohazard

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorizes various diseases in levels of biohazard, Level 1 being minimum risk and Level 4 being extreme risk. Laboratories and other facilities are categorized as BSL (Biosafety Level) 1–4 or as P1 through P4 for short (Pathogen or Protection Level).

• Biohazard Level 1: Bacteria and viruses including Bacillus subtilis, canine hepatitis, Escherichia coli, and varicella (chickenpox), as well as some cell cultures and non-infectious bacteria. At this level precautions against the biohazardous materials in question are minimal, most likely involving gloves and some sort of facial protection.
• Biohazard Level 2: Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, some influenza A strains, Human respiratory syncytial virus, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures.
• Biohazard Level 3: Bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS coronavirus, MERS coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A H5N1, hantaviruses, Cholera, tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria.
• Biohazard Level 4: Viruses that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, Lassa fever virus, Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic diseases, as well as Nipah virus. Variola virus (smallpox) is an agent that is worked with at BSL-4 despite the existence of a vaccine, as it has been eradicated and thus the general population is no longer routinely vaccinated. When dealing with biological hazards at this level, the use of a positive pressure personnel suit with a segregated air supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent doors from both opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release. Currently there are no bacteria classified at this level.

See also

• Biocontainment – Physical containment of pathogenic organisms or agents in microbiology laboratories
• Biofilter – Pollution control technique
• Biological agent – Pathogen that can be weaponized
• Biosafety level – Set of biocontainment precautions
• Hazard – Situation or object that can cause harm
• Interplanetary contamination – Biological contamination of a planetary body by a space probe or spacecraft
• List of laboratory biosecurity incidents
• Planetary protection – Prevention of interplanetary biological contamination
• Public health – Promoting health through informed choices

Notes

1. See Classification, "Category A, UN 2900"
2. See Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals for chemical labelling standards for containers.

References

1. "Biohazard Symbol History". Archived from the original on February 13, 2012.
2. "USDA Policies and Procedures on Biohazardous Waste Decontamination, Management, and Quality Controls at Laboratories and Technical Facilities". USDA. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
3. Tigabu, Bersabeh; Rasmussen, Lynn; White, E. Lucile; Tower, Nichole; Saeed, Mohammad; Bukreyev, Alexander; Rockx, Barry; LeDuc, James W.; Noah, James W. (1 April 2014). "A BSL-4 High-Throughput Screen Identifies Sulfonamide Inhibitors of Nipah Virus". Assay and Drug Development Technologies. 12 (3): 155–161. doi:10.1089/adt.2013.567. PMC 3994909. PMID 24735442.

Bibliography

• Baldwin CL, Runkle RS (October 1967). "Biohazards symbol: development of a biological hazards warning signal". Science. 158 (3798): 264–5. Bibcode:1967Sci...158..264B. doi:10.1126/science.158.3798.264. PMID 6053882. S2CID 38466300.
• Preston, Richard (1994). The Hot Zone. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-3-426-77257-7.
• Preston, Richard (2002). The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story. Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50856-1.

External links

• "Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories", official CDC guide.
• "Prevention of Biological Hazards", EU-OSHA
• "Symbol Making", an account of the development of the symbol in 1966.
• "BioSeal Systems", Biosafety level 4 containment.
• Biohazard Remediation Compliance Overview
• "Example of Reclassified Biohazard to Level 4", article from The Lancet concerning the reclassification of Ebola after observation.
• "Biological hazards related to working alone safety", an article focusing on working alone safety when dealing with biological hazards

v t e Pollution
History
Air	Acid rain Air quality index Atmospheric dispersion modeling Chlorofluorocarbon Combustion Biofuel Biomass Joss paper Open burning of waste Construction Renovation Demolition Exhaust gas Diesel exhaust Haze Smoke Indoor air quality Internal combustion engine Global dimming Global distillation Mining Ozone depletion Particulates Asbestos Metal working Oil refining Wood dust Welding Persistent organic pollutant Smelting Smog Soot Black carbon Volatile organic compound Waste
Biological	Biological hazard Genetic pollution Introduced species Invasive species
Digital	Information pollution
Electromagnetic	Light Ecological light pollution Overillumination Radio spectrum pollution
Natural	Ozone Radium and radon in the environment Volcanic ash Wildfire
Noise	Transportation Land Water Air Rail Sustainable transport Urban Sonar Marine mammals and sonar Industrial Military Abstract Noise control
Radiation	Actinides Bioremediation Nuclear fission Nuclear fallout Plutonium Poisoning Radioactivity Uranium Electromagnetic radiation and health Radioactive waste
Soil	Agricultural pollution Herbicides Manure waste Pesticides Land degradation Bioremediation Open defecation Electrical resistance heating Soil guideline values Phytoremediation
Solid waste	Advertising mail Biodegradable waste Brown waste Electronic waste Battery recycling Foam food container Food waste Green waste Hazardous waste Biomedical waste Chemical waste Construction waste Lead poisoning Mercury poisoning Toxic waste Industrial waste Lead smelting Litter Mining Coal mining Gold mining Surface mining Deep sea mining Mining waste Uranium mining Municipal solid waste Garbage Nanomaterials Plastic pollution Microplastics Packaging waste Post-consumer waste Waste management Landfill Thermal treatment
Space	Satellite
Visual	Air travel Clutter (advertising) Traffic signs Overhead power lines Vandalism
War	Chemical warfare Herbicidal warfare (Agent Orange) Nuclear holocaust (Nuclear fallout - nuclear famine - nuclear winter) Scorched earth Unexploded ordnance War and environmental law
Water	Agricultural wastewater Biological pollution Diseases Eutrophication Firewater Freshwater Groundwater Hypoxia Industrial wastewater Marine debris Monitoring Nonpoint source pollution Nutrient pollution Ocean acidification Oil exploitation Oil exploration Oil spill Pharmaceuticals Sewage Septic tanks Pit latrine Shipping Stagnation Sulfur water Surface runoff Thermal Turbidity Urban runoff Water quality
Topics	Pollutants Heavy metals Paint Brain health and pollution
Misc	Area source Debris Dust Garbology Legacy pollution Midden Point source Waste
Responses	Cleaner production Industrial ecology Pollution haven hypothesis Pollutant release and transfer register Polluter pays principle Pollution control Waste minimisation Zero waste
Lists	Diseases Law by country Most polluted cities Least polluted cities by PM2.5 Most polluted countries Most polluted rivers Treaties
Categories (by country) Commons WikiProject Environment WikiProject Ecology Environment portal Ecology portal

• Biology

• Biological hazards
• Safety
• Security
• Life sciences industry
• Occupational hazards