Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee - 
She said that no one is mandated to wash his or her hands, but that it is mandated to 
have facilities for handwashing. Yet there is no requirement for handwashing facilities in 
a controlled access area. This brought about the changes that Dr. Hirano had outlined. 
As far as the HEPA filtration, two letters had been received raising the question of 
whether it was wise for the subcommittee to recommend treatment of exhaust air from 
controlled access areas. She noted that as Appendix K now stands, HEPA filtration is 
not required for closed containment facilities as long as the air is not directed into 
sensitive places such as near air intakes. She said, however, that in discussing this issue 
at its meeting in December the subcommittee members had thought that if there was a 
requirement to change clothes before entering a facihty, there must be some expectation 
of a level of pathogenic organisms in the air. Therefore, air should be filtered before 
discharge. Tlie other side of the argument is that in these instances one is dealing with 
closed systems in which there is not supposed to be any escape. Therefore, why filter 
large quantities of air that circulate in large laboratory spaces which are part of a closed 
system? 
Dr. Gellert said his impression was that one of the most frequent occurrences to be 
expected would be a spill, in which case aerosols and sprays of material would go into 
the air and that these could be disseminated before any air supply could be shut off. 
Therefore, it would not be unreasonable to require some sort of filtration. 
Dr. Riley moved adoption of the subcommittee recommendations to Appendix K of the 
NIH Guidelines, including the modification outlined by Dr. Hirano. Dr. Gellert seconded 
the motion. There being no further discussion on the motion. Dr. McGarrity called for a 
vote. The motion passed by a vote of 15 in favor, none opposed, and 1 abstention. 
Dr. McGarrity thanked Dr. Riley and her subcommittee and then called on Dr. 
Schaechter to begin discussion of the next agenda item. 
AMENDMENT TO APPENDIX OF THE "NIH GUIDELINES" REGARDING 
"SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM" LT2: 
Dr. Schaechter said that this item came as a request from Dr. Robert LaRossa of 
Dupont on September 25, 1990, to downgrade levels for work with Scdmonella 
typhimurium strain LT2 from BL2 to BLl. It was specific for the LT2 strain, and not for 
all S. typhimurium. It was hard to see why this request had come to the RAC since all 
Salmonella are classified as Class 2 agents by the CDC-NIH Guidelines for Biosafety in 
Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories. This should be treated in the context of the 
pathogenesis of the organism rather than as a recombinant DNA recipient. 
Dr. Schaechter said that this strain was very old and should be compared with E. coli K- 
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Recombinant DNA Research, Volume 14 
