Class II Type A (A1/A2) Biological Safety Cabinets
The Class II Type A biological safety cabinet is the most common Class II cabinet. It is also
the most common safety cabinet of all the different types available. It has a common
plenum from which 30% of air is exhausted, and 70% re-circulated to the work area as
the downflow.
Type A cabinets exhaust air directly back to the laboratory, and they may contain positive
pressure contaminated plenums. When toxic chemicals must be employed as an adjunct to
microbiological processes, these cabinets should not be used. Exhaust HEPA filtration only
removes airborne aerosols including biohazards, and not chemical fumes.
The Class II Type A1 has the positively-pressurized contaminated plenum bordering the
ambient environment, and therefore is less safe than the Class II Type A2 that has a negative
pressure surrounding the positively pressurized contaminated plenum. In case there is a
leakage on the positive plenum, the leaking aerosol will be pulled by the negative pressure
back to the positive plenum, and it will not leak out. Because of the safety issue, the Type
A1 design is now considered obsolete. In the A2 cabinet, about 70% of air from the
positive plenum is recirculated as downflow, and the remaining 30% is discharged to the
lab through the exhaust filter.