Biosafety Assessment and Airborne Fungal Concentration as an Evaluation Index in University Laboratories and Hospital Diagnostic Korean Laboratories

ABSTRACT This study evaluated both biosafety levels (BLs) and airborne fungal concentrations in microbiological laboratories in Seoul, Korea. To evaluate biosafety facilities, we used a checklist containing 67 questions in nine categories. We also measured airborne fungal concentration according to the BLs. Airborne fungal concentrations were higher in BL-1 facilities (240 CFU/m3) than in BL-2 facilities (25 CFU/m3). The airborne fungal concentrations significantly differed among the laboratories that were graded as poor, fair, and good. Especially, a significant negative correlation was observed between the airborne fungal concentrations and the biosafety levels (p = .001). We recommend that the guidelines of biosafety be followed to improve laboratory environment.