7 
safeguards appropriate for the safe handling of needles and syringes; 
(4) BL2 requires a biosafety manual be established to govern actions within 
the laboratory; (5) BL2 emphasizes concentration and volume concerns; and 
(6) PL? emphasizes the importance of hand washing by requiring a sink in 
a BL2 facility. 
Dr. Barkley said the preposed Biosafety Level 3 (BL3) differs frem P3 by 
three minor modifications: (1) BL3 requires a baseline serum sample frem 
people who will work in the BL3 facility be collected and stored; (2) BL3 
requires a biosafety manual for governing operations within the facility; 
and (3) BL3 requires the laboratory be equipped with self-closing doors. 
Dr. McGarrity said the proposal is a very healthy development. He noted 
that some "housekeeping" modifications may be required should this proposal 
be accepted by the NIH; the proposed language rec amending BL1 containment 
conditions for exempt experiments under Appendix C differs from the language 
of a proposed modification of Appendix C to be discussed later in the 
meeting. [See IV. Amendment of Procedures for Scale-Up of Organisms Listed 
in Appendix C of these minutes.] 
Dr. McGarrity asked Dr. Barkley if the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was 
attempting to align language describing conditions for proper handling of 
oncogenic viruses with the language of the booklet Biosafety in Microbio- 
logical and Biomedical Laboratories . Dr. Barkley replied that an NCI 
committee is moving to adept this language and the assessment philosophy 
which emphasizes inhalation hazards as the principal parameter for assigning 
BL3 containment. Dr. Barkley said it appears the oncogenic viruses will 
be placed in the BL2 category because of the absence of substantive evidence 
that any of the retroviruses represent an inhalation risk. 
Dr. Landy pointed out that at present the NIH Guidelines have no containment 
listing assigned for use of oncogenic viruses. He questioned whether RAC 
should continue to leave the creation of such a listing to another agency 
or develop its own classification for oncogenic viruses. 
Dr. McGarrity asked if the language of the proposed Appendix G revision 
had been taken in toto from the CDC/NIH booklet. Dr. Barkley replied that 
the descriptions in the CDC/NIH document apply specifically to organisms 
shown to cause disease in laboratory workers. In the proposed Appendix G 
language, the terms "infectious agents" or "etiologic agents" are replaced 
by the phrase "organisms that contain recombinant DNA molecules." This 
phrase is consistent with the emphasis of the NIH Guidelines for Research 
Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules. 
Dr. McGarrity referred to the proposed specification in Appendix G-II-A-l-h 
for wearing laboratory coats, gowns, or uniforms "to prevent contamination 
or soiling of street clothes." He felt a laboratory safety manual should be 
more concerned with the prevention of contamination than with soiling of 
clothing . 
[ 460 ] 
