Source avec lien : Annals of Work Exposures and Health, 66(8). 10.1093/annweh/wxac043
Bien que les tests de confinement des hottes de laboratoire (FC) selon les normes EN 14175-3 (2019) ou ANSI/ASHRAE 110 (2016) soient bien établis pour les essais de type, leur application est actuellement beaucoup moins acceptée et pratiquée pour évaluer le confinement sur site. Parmi les plusieurs millions de FC sur le marché, peu ont été testés lors de l’installation et de la mise en service, et encore moins subissent une vérification du confinement pendant leur durée de vie dans les laboratoires. Plusieurs raisons ont conduit à cette situation peu sûre. Pour relever ce défi, un nouveau concept a été développé pour permettre un test rapide sur site des FC afin d’acquérir des connaissances sur l’efficacité fonctionnelle ainsi que sur les aspects de sécurité pour l’opérateur.
Although containment testing of fume cupboards (FC) according to the standards EN 14175-3 (2019) or ANSI/ASHRAE 110 (2016) is well established for type testing, its application is currently much less accepted and practised for evaluating containment on-site. Few of the several million FC in the market have been tested at installation and commissioning, and even less undergo verification of containment during their service life in the laboratories. Several reasons have led to this unsafe situation. To address this challenge, a new concept has been developed to allow for rapid on-site testing of FC to gain knowledge as to the functional efficiency as well as to safety aspects for the operator. The concept consists of a movable robot-aided test equipment that can be installed quickly to the FC in running labs. Multiple sensors detect the tracer gas isopropanol. Within a test run of only 10-min data is collected to quantify containment at the sash opening and to determine purge efficiency. The method reveals impact from interfering effects such as draughts, air distribution, and movements and from equipment installed, and is a tool for the optimization of operating conditions of a lab. This article presents an advanced alternative to the existing containment tests, particularly for on-site testing. The method assesses not only proper operation of the FC in its environment, but also the suitability of a FC for a given use under aspects of health and safety evaluation.