Inactive

Statement of Need There are two primary capability improvements that the BHS will provide: 1. Capability to achieve critical safety requirements that does not exist with the current system. The NIEHS ... Statement of Need There are two primary capability improvements that the BHS will provide: 1. Capability to achieve critical safety requirements that does not exist with the current system. The NIEHS Health and Safety Branch agrees that there are significant safety deficiencies with our existing bedding removal system and agree that the BHS would effectively address them. 2. The ability to place all disposable items from rodent cages (bedding, feed, enrichment) directly into the removal system and into a single waste stream. Currently, feed and enrichment must be manually removed from each cage and placed into garbage bags for disposal and incineration. The labor savings and reduced environmental impact from this enhancement will be dramatic. From a safety perspective, the BHS will eliminate risks for both traumatic, acute injuries as well as potential for the development of serious chronic conditions, including laboratory animal allergy and associated asthma. The current bedding removal system is more than 25 years old and its safety features are limited and outdated. The current removal system is equipped with moving mechanical parts that are accessible to operators and are not equipped with automatic shutoff capability should something become caught in them. As such, the risk for very serious operator injury exists. Furthermore, the BHS is equipped with laminar air flow, and HEPA filtered air that is supplied to operators. This represents a substantial reduction in the amount of allergen exposure for operators. The current disposal system provides a minimal downdraft effect that achieves very little allergen protection, particularly when considering that operators dump and agitate bedding at this exact site (thus aerosolizing allergens). Laminar flow, HEPA filtered allergen protection is standard for animal care and researchers throughout the facility when working with rodent cages. The BHS would raise the level of respiratory protection available for cage processing personnel, bringing it on par with the standards required for all other animal facility personnel. From an operational and environmental standpoint, the BHS would deliver substantial benefits. The current disposal system is not equipped with a shredder, and thus cannot handle rodent feed nor enrichment devices, both of which are present in each rodent cage that must be dumped. As such, operators must remove each of these items prior to dumping and place them in plastic trash bags, thus representing two additional processing steps (removal of nesting and feed). As NIEHS processes more than half a million such cages on an annual basis, the elimination of these steps would represent a substantial operational efficiency gain. Furthermore, these steps require a pinching motion and twist of the wrist, meaning that elimination of these steps would substantially reduce repetitive motions, thus also achieving an ergonomic enhancement. From a green perspective, the benefits are dramatic. Rodent bedding is composted, and by placing feed and nesting in that waste stream, the BHS would allow for the transition of their disposal from incineration to compost. Under current practices, several tons of feed and nesting, as well thousands of plastic bags, are incinerated on an annual basis, making the green implications of this change multiple and substantial. Lastly, the current system is more than 25 years old, and is nearing the end of its useful life. As expected, maintenance needs are increasing, and replacement parts are becoming more challenging to locate. As described, the volume of bedding, nesting, and feed disposal is massive. As such, vivarium operations would be severely crippled without a continuously operational bedding removal system.