I've read that the Bunsen burner is not recommanded for the cell culture hood, however, it's been a tradition in my lab. Can anyone explain the pros and cons of using it? Thanks in advance.
Dear Dr. Li,
This is a good question.
I also asked this too, as I moved from a laminar flow hood to a tissue culture hood.
Because of the use of %70 ethanol as a decontaminate is widely used in tissue culture for control of bacterium and fungi. As Ethanol is a good surface decontaminate, it also is quite flammable we were suggested to use a non flame heat source for decon like a BactiZapper Sterilizer, or to use disposable loops, UV, or other types of cold decon.
With the air exchange in a hood as it is, it can make the open flame difficult to control.
Also some tissue cultures need mixes of gas like CO2 and N2, inert, but sometimes O2 is needed, and very flammable.
The heat could damage your HEPA filter.
If flame goes out, the gas could recirculate until its concentration could become explosive.
These are the main things I have learned to be the cons and dangers of an open flame in a Bio-containment tissue culture hood.
Safety First.
Best Wishes,
Charles
I'm not sure why would you use a burner in a sterile hood ?
A burner disrupts the air flow of the hood, which actually does more harm than good when looking at sterile conditions. Plus, the hood aspirates the hot air from the burner, meaning the "sterile zone" of your burner is much much reduced.
I use a strong bleach solution not ethanol to sterilize my flow hood. Bleach is the actual "secret" ingredient of the expensive 'Rnase Away' spray.
Thank you Martin Chenal , people in my lab mainly use the flame to decontaminate the caps and necks of bottles.
Hi,
I completely agree with the response provided by Prof. CHarles. He is right about the HEPA filters and the gases inside a Tissue culture hood.
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