The CDC on Monday confirmed the safety of breathing hoses attached to protective suits worn by workers in its deadly pathogen labs after a two-week investigation of the equipment.
The agency issued a work stoppage on Feb. 16 in the Biosafety Level 4 labs — which house deadly pathogens like the Ebola virus — after administrators learned the hoses had not been certified for breathing air. Officials expressed safety concerns regarding the possibility that chemicals released into the air supply from the hose material might be unsafe to breathe. Deadly pathogens becoming airborne and infecting workers was never a concern to the agency.
"Independent testing by an external accredited laboratory has determined that the air supplied by the hoses in use meets the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard for breathable air," the agency said in a statement. "Work in the BSL-4 laboratories that was suspended on February 16 has resumed."
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Highly publicized accidents at the CDC involving influenza, anthrax and smallpox have resulted in a tightening of safety protocols at the federal health agency in recent years.
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