Environmental Health and Radiation Safety

Health Risks

Generally, hazards faced by working in the laboratory animal facility are similar to those seen in other types of laboratories. These are briefly listed in Table 1.

Table 1. General Hazards in Animal Facilities

Type of Injury	Examples
Musculoskeletal Injury	Lifting feed bags Pushing cage racks Twisting restraining large animals Slipping on wet a floor Crushed extremities from equipment
Repetitive Motion Injury	Handling water bottles Dumping bedding
Hearing Loss	Noise generated in cage wash areas, dog runs
Burns	Steam or hot water autoclaves and cage washing equipment

Care must be exercised to help avoid the hazards listed in Table 1. The safety discussions supplied during initial orientation and the laboratory safety training are helpful in this regard. The noise levels found in the cage washer room are not immediately dangerous to hearing.  The caging equipment is heavy; once in motion, it can be difficult to stop. It is important to keep finger and toes from becoming trapped between moving equipment and other objects such as doorways and other cage racks. Steel-toed shoes are recommended. Burn injuries have occurred in the animal facility. Both the cage washers and the autoclaves use high temperatures during operation and the steam or objects coming out of them are hot enough to cause injury.

Working directly with animals and in animal rooms creates additional hazard risks that are not usually seen elsewhere. Examples listed in Table 2.

Table 2. Special Hazards in Animal Facilities

Hazard	Examples
Animal Bite or Scratch	Animal attempts to escape
Needle Stick	Recapping needles Animal reaction
Development of Allergies	Exposure to animal allergens (dander, serum, urine proteins)
Radiation	research isotopes, x-ray equipment
Chemicals	hazardous materials on test, cleaning or decontaminating materials, acids for cage washers
Biohazards	human pathogens, zoonotic pathogens

Animal bite and scratch. This is particularly likely when animals are in pain or trying to escape.  Typically, the injury caused by laboratory animals (rodents, rabbits, birds etc.) is minimal; however, subsequent infections are possible and can be severe. If you are injured, immediately place the animal back in the cage if possible. Then thoroughly wash the wound with warm water and disinfectant soap, to lessen the chance of infection.  Reporting of the injury is required (see Report of Animal Bites S-08-023) and medical attention is recommended.  Proper handling of animals will reduce the chances of injury. Handling and restraint is covered in the IACUC-required DLAR training. Additional hands-on training is available by request, contact DLAR for more information.

Needle Sticks: Hypodermic needles are common sources of injury. They are very sharp and readily penetrate skin. They may be contaminated with hazardous materials or infectious agents (either as research material or from the animal) and readily transmit these things via needle sticks.  Effective animal restraint helps to lessen the risk. Safety syringes with integral protective sheaths are available. Careful planning to always have a sharps disposal container in the work area is highly effective in reducing the risk of injury (see HM-08-020).

Development of Allergies to Laboratory Animals: This is the overwhelmingly most prevalent occupational health risk to laboratory animal workers. Numerous studies have shown issues as high as 30%-50% of individuals without previous allergy history will develop an allergy to lab animals while working in that environment.  The problem can be debilitating and career-ending and should not be underestimated.

Allergies can be manifest in a number of ways, including: allergic rhinitis (a condition characterized by runny nose and sneezing similar to hay fever); by allergic conjunctivitis (irritation and tearing of the eyes); or by atopic dermatitis (a skin redness and swelling caused by contact). Asthma (tightness in chest and restricted ability to breathe) can also develop. Symptoms can develop anywhere from months to years after a person begins working with animals. A majority of the individuals who are going to develop symptoms will do so within the first year. People who have a prior personal history or family history of hay fever, or eczema will be more likely to develop asthma after contact with animals. These people do not seem any more likely to develop rhinitis and conjunctivitis than do those without such personal or family history.

People frequently believe that their allergy is to animal hair or dander (shed skin) but recent studies show that the offending material is proteins from animal urine, saliva, and feces. Exposure may occur either through direct contact or, more commonly, by inhaling dust from the bottom of a cage that has been contaminated with urine or fecal material. This dust is usually invisible and, while worse during cage cleaning, is always present in the animal room air.

Procedures should be routinely followed to prevent the development of animal allergies. Workers must wear personal protective equipment “PPE” to prevent/limit direct exposure. In order to prevent inhaling contaminated material working with animals inside a hood is recommended and sometimes maybe required.  Respirators such as a Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) and N-95 mask are also available and sometimes required.  Respirators (PAPR’s or N-95 mask) required fit testing by Health and Safety before they can be worn safely.  Use of a respirator or a cage dumping station is required when dirty bedding is removed from cages.

It is particularly important to seek medical advice regarding animal allergies if symptoms include difficulty breathing, tightness in the throat or chest and shortness of breath.

Exposure to Radiation: Radiation hazards are minimized through management controls. Protocols utilizing radioactive materials are developed with the assistance of Radiation Safety and procedures are formulated to protect workers. Training in and following these procedures are important to minimize risks.

Exposure to Chemicals: Chemical hazards due to experimentation with chemicals are minimized through management controls. Training in and following these procedures are important to minimizing risks. Similarly, safe handling of the chemicals used in the cleaning and disinfection functions of lab animal procedures rely upon training in and subsequent adherence to proper use procedures.

Exposure to Biohazards or Zoonotic agents: Biohazards due to experimentation with infectious agents are minimized through management controls. Protocols utilizing infectious agents are developed with the assistance of the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and procedures are formulated to protect workers. Training in and following these procedures are important to minimizing risks.

Zoonotic agents are infectious agents carried by animals that cause disease in humans. Zoonotic disease risk from typical laboratory animals bred specifically for research is small. Examples may include "Rat Bite Fever" but Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis virus infection.

Personal Hygiene: There are a number of personal hygiene issues that apply to all workers who are exposed to animals.

1. No eating, drinking, smoking or applying of cosmetics in areas where animals are housed or
2. Proper posted PPE must be worn when working with animals. This will minimize the contamination of street clothing. If dedicated scrubs are warn they should be changed in clean/unsoiled scrubs prior to eating or in public eating areas. Dedicated scrubs should be laundered routinely and separate from any personal clothing.
3. Careful hand washing should be done after handling of animals and prior to leaving the
4. All work surfaces should be decontaminated daily and after any spill of animal related
5. Certain infections are transmitted from animals to humans primarily by the animal’s feces or urine contaminating one’s hands that may contaminate objects put into the mouth. Examples of organisms utilizing this mode of transmission are species of Salmonella, Leptospira and Entamoeba. Every precaution should be taken to avoid this mode of transmission by alertness and careful personal hygiene. Additional health problems are encountered when these organisms are carried home and children/family members are exposed.

Table 3:  Some Zoonoses by Animal Species

General Ascarids Campylobacter jejuni Clostridium tetani Dermatophytosis Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Giardia spp Hookworms Helicobacter spp Influenza Leptospira spp Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Mycoplasma spp Rabies  Sarcoptes scabiei Sporotrichosis Strongyloides Yersinia spp.	Farm Animals Brucella spp Capripoxvirus (sheep and goats) Chlamydia psittaci Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever) Cryptosporidia E. coli (multiple strains) Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Influenza Leptospira Listeria Mycobacterium bovis Orf (Parapox) Pseudocowpox Rabies Salmonella Staph aureus
Rodents Francisella tularensis (serology) Leptospira spp Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus Hantaviruses (Sin Nombre Virus) Spirillum minor (Rat bite fever) Streptobacillus moniliformis Yersinia spp.	Rabbits Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever) Notoedres cati (mite) Francisella tularensis
Aquatic species Cryptosporidia Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Mycobacterium marinum	Poultry/Avian Chlamydia psittaci Cryptosporidia Francisella tularensis Salmonella spp (esp. S. pullorum) Staphylococcus aureus (esp. from handling infected eggs) Mycobacterium avium Newcastle disease Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
Reptiles Cryptosporidia Salmonella	Amphibians Chlamydia psittaci Mycobacterium marinum, M. ranae, M. xenopi Various bacterial agents