Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC) “Biosafety Cabinet”

Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC)—also called a Biosafety Cabinet or Microbiological Safety Cabinet—is an enclosed, ventilated laboratory workspace for safely working with materials contaminated with (or potentially contaminated with) pathogens requiring a defined biosafety level. Several different types of BSC exist, differentiated by the degree of biocontainment required. BSCs first became commercially available in 1950.

The primary purpose of a BSC is to serve as a means to protect both the specimen and laboratory worker and the surrounding environment from pathogens depending on the biosafety level requirement.