Due to the nature of this project, some basic safety features have to be taken into account when in the lab. Always, in the lab, gloves, lab coats and safety spectacles were worn to prevent any problems through cross contamination and removal of vectors or bacteria from the lab to the public environment.

When using pipettes in the lab, all pipette tips were discarded into a central beaker and then discarded into a biological waste bin. Any pipettes that were used to transfer bacteria were transferred to a beaker containing 5% DECON to kill the cells before disposal of the tips into the biological waste bin. This process was used for any cell containing vessels; falcon tube and glass vials were washed before being disposed of or autoclaved.

After running DNA gels the gel itself was thrown our into a chemical waste bin for disposal, and the TAE (Tris base, acetic acid and EDTA) buffer was poured into a large container. The reason for this is because they both contain ethidium bromide (EtBr), due to toxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and skin irritant. The ethidium bromide is then collected and disposed off in the chemical waste bin, whilst the buffer was poured down the sink.

Hazardous Substances Risk Assessment Summary Forms