Pitfalls Avoidance Guide for Animal Laboratory Engineering Construction

In the field of scientific research, animal laboratories serve as crucial venues for life science research, drug development, and other work. The construction quality of these laboratories directly affects the accuracy of experimental results, animal welfare, and the safety of researchers. As a professional manufacturer of purification equipment, Guangzhou Cleanroom Construction Co., Ltd. has accumulated extensive experience in animal laboratory engineering construction through serving numerous clients. Today, we will share some guidelines on avoiding pitfalls in animal laboratory engineering construction, hoping to help research institutions and enterprises avoid detours.

Animal laboratories should be located away from natural epidemic foci, as well as areas such as railways, docks, airports, major traffic arteries, and factories that emit a large amount of dust and harmful gases. Improper site selection not only makes it easy for the laboratory to be affected by external pollution and interference, which can impact the health of experimental animals and the accuracy of experimental results, but may also pose potential risks to the surrounding environment and residents. For example, a certain research institution, without fully considering the site selection factors, built an animal laboratory near a chemical plant. As a result, the experimental animals frequently had health problems, and the experimental data were severely disrupted. Eventually, a large amount of funds and time had to be spent on reselecting the site for construction.

Animal laboratories generally should be divided into different functional areas, including the preparation area, breeding area, experimental area, and logistics area. There should be a clear demarcation among these areas, and the flow of people, logistics, and animal flow should be separated to form a one - way process to avoid cross - contamination. If the functional zoning is not reasonable, it may lead to inconvenient experimental operations and an increased risk of contamination. For instance, in some laboratories, the breeding area and the experimental area are set adjacent to each other without effective isolation measures, and the pollutants generated during the experiment are likely to spread to the breeding area, affecting the health of the experimental animals.

When planning the space of an animal laboratory, sufficient expansion space should be reserved considering future development needs. At the same time, according to the types and quantities of experimental animals, as well as the size and quantity of experimental equipment, the area of each functional area should be determined reasonably. If the space planning is insufficient, problems such as crowded space and inability to place equipment may occur during the laboratory's operation. Once, an enterprise, without fully anticipating the future business growth, faced serious space shortages shortly after the animal laboratory was completed due to the increase in the number of experimental animals and the purchase of new equipment. It had to carry out a second renovation of the laboratory, resulting in unnecessary waste.

The building materials used in animal laboratories should be non - toxic, non - radioactive, and easy to clean and disinfect. The interior walls should be smooth and flat, the floor should be slip - resistant and wear - resistant, and the ceiling should be water - resistant and corrosion - resistant. The joints between the walls and the floor should be smooth and seamless, and the corners should be rounded to avoid sharp edges. If substandard building materials are used, harmful substances may be released, affecting the health of experimental animals. Moreover, it is not conducive to the cleaning and disinfection of the laboratory. For example, some wall materials, after being used for a period of time, may peel off or become moldy, which not only affects the appearance of the laboratory but may also contaminate the experimental environment.

During the construction of animal laboratories, the construction techniques of some key parts must be strictly standardized. For example, the doors and windows in areas such as clean corridors, breeding rooms, and contaminated corridors should be installed with good airtightness to prevent air leakage; the connection of ventilation ducts should be firm and well - sealed to avoid air leakage that affects the ventilation effect; the joints of the floor and walls should be sealed to prevent the growth of microorganisms. If the construction techniques are not standardized, the cleanliness, temperature, and humidity control of the laboratory may not meet the design requirements. Once, in an animal laboratory project, due to the poor sealing of the ventilation ducts during construction, a large amount of air leakage occurred after operation, resulting in significant fluctuations in the indoor temperature and humidity, and seriously affecting the growth environment of the experimental animals.

The environmental control system is the core part of an animal laboratory, including ventilation, air purification, temperature, and humidity control. During the construction process, it is necessary to ensure that the ventilation equipment is installed in the correct position and the air volume can be adjusted reasonably; the filters of the air purification system are installed firmly and sealed well; the temperature and humidity sensors are installed in the accurate position and can truly reflect the indoor environmental parameters. If the construction quality of the environmental control system is neglected, the air quality of the laboratory may be poor, and the temperature and humidity may be unstable, affecting the health of experimental animals and the accuracy of experimental results. For example, in some laboratories, when installing temperature and humidity sensors, they are placed near heat sources, resulting in significant deviations between the measured data of the sensors and the actual indoor temperature and humidity, making it impossible to accurately control the environment.

Selecting suitable equipment according to the functional requirements of the animal laboratory and the types of experimental animals is of vital importance. For example, laboratories breeding rodents should be equipped with an Individual Ventilated Cage (IVC) system to ensure the air quality of the animal breeding environment; laboratories conducting surgical experiments need to be equipped with professional surgical instruments and anesthesia equipment. If the equipment selection is inappropriate, it may not meet the experimental requirements and affect the smooth progress of the experiment. Once, in a laboratory, when purchasing animal breeding cages, without fully considering the growth characteristics and breeding density requirements of the experimental animals, the selected cages had too small a space, resulting in the growth and development of the experimental animals being affected, and the experimental data also deviated.

When purchasing equipment, one should not only focus on the price but also ignore the quality and after - sales service of the equipment. High - quality equipment not only has stable performance and a long service life but can also be repaired in a timely manner when a failure occurs. Some low - priced equipment may have unqualified quality, frequently malfunction, and affect the experimental progress. Moreover, if the after - sales service is inadequate and the repair is not timely, it will cause great trouble to the laboratory. For example, a low - temperature refrigerator purchased by a certain laboratory was relatively inexpensive, but it frequently had refrigeration failures after being used for a period of time. Due to the slow response of the manufacturer's after - sales service and the long repair cycle, the experimental samples stored in the refrigerator were damaged, resulting in huge losses.

Various types of equipment in an animal laboratory need to cooperate with each other and work in tandem. When purchasing equipment, the compatibility between different devices should be fully considered to ensure that they can be properly connected and communicate with each other. For example, the temperature and humidity sensors, ventilation equipment, and control system in the environmental control system should be able to achieve data transmission and linkage control. If the equipment is not compatible, the system may not operate normally, affecting the overall functions of the laboratory. Once, in a laboratory, after upgrading some equipment, due to the incompatibility between the new equipment and the original control system, the entire environmental control system crashed, and it took a long time of debugging and modification to resume normal operation.

After the completion of animal laboratory engineering construction, strict acceptance is required. Before acceptance, the acceptance standards must be clearly defined, including various environmental indicators of the laboratory (such as temperature, humidity, cleanliness, noise, etc.), the performance indicators of the equipment, and the quality standards of the construction project. If the acceptance standards are not clear, the acceptance work may lack a basis, and it is impossible to accurately determine whether the project is qualified. For example, in some laboratories, the acceptance standards for cleanliness were not clearly defined during the acceptance process, and only a simple visual inspection was carried out. As a result, after the laboratory was put into use, it was found that the indoor cleanliness could not meet the experimental requirements, and purification treatment had to be carried out again.

Concealed works play a crucial role in the construction of animal laboratories, such as the installation of ventilation ducts and the laying of electrical lines. During the acceptance process, the acceptance of concealed works cannot be ignored, and professional detection means should be used to check whether the construction quality of concealed works meets the requirements. For example, for ventilation ducts, it is necessary to check their airtightness and whether the air volume distribution is reasonable; for electrical lines, it is necessary to check their insulation performance and whether the grounding is good. If the acceptance of concealed works is neglected, once problems occur during use, the maintenance is difficult and costly. Once, in a laboratory, the concealed works of the ventilation ducts were not carefully inspected during the acceptance process. After being put into use, air leakage was found in the ventilation ducts. Since the ducts were installed in the ceiling, the maintenance was very difficult, which not only affected the normal use of the laboratory but also caused energy waste.

Before an animal laboratory is officially put into use, a trial operation acceptance should be carried out for a certain period. During the trial operation period, a comprehensive test of all functions of the laboratory should be conducted, including the stability of the environmental control system, the operation status of the equipment, and the rationality of the experimental operation process. Through the trial operation acceptance, problems can be discovered and rectified in a timely manner to ensure the normal operation of the laboratory. Some laboratories, without conducting a trial operation acceptance, directly put the laboratory into use after the completion of the project. As a result, various problems occurred during use, affecting the experimental progress and the development of scientific research work.

Animal laboratory engineering construction is a complex systematic project, involving multiple links such as planning and design, construction, equipment procurement, and acceptance management. There may be various "pitfalls" in each link, which require our full attention and strict control during the construction process. With a professional technical team and rich experience, Guangzhou Cleanroom Construction Co., Ltd. can provide you with one - stop animal laboratory engineering construction solutions, helping you avoid these "pitfalls" and creating a laboratory that meets the standards and requirements. If you have needs in animal laboratory engineering construction, please feel free to contact us.