Captairstore, by Erlab®

The laboratory is a work environment which presents many chemical hazards to which lab technicians are daily exposed, often undervaluing the threat for their health. As an example, this is comprehensible that lab technicians, from their workstation, need to immediately have access to a large range of chemicals to perform their handlings. Unfortunately, it also means that these chemicals are generally stored on benchtops.

The consequence of these numerous bottles presence is to release a concentration of noxious chemicals in the air of the laboratory. Even in small amounts and the fact that laboratory personnel could get used to the odours, these vapours can have long term effects on their health. The TLV (Threshold Limit Value*) defines for each chemical the concentration level at which a chemical becomes harmful to their health.

Based on this, erlab, the worldwide leader in laboratory filtration technologies for ductless fume hoods, has developed more than 10 years ago Captairstore®, a complete range of filtering storage cabinets for the elimination of noxious chemical vapours, escaping from the commonly containers used in the laboratory.

The working principle of this safety storage device is to suck the air of the laboratory into the enclosure trough a ventilation slot located at the base of the cabinet, by creating a negative pressure in the enclosed space of the cabinet throughout a vented system. All the vapours emitted from the bottles stored in the enclosure are drawn toward a filtration technology, adapted to the stored chemical typology. Harmful molecules and unpleasant

odours are, by consequence, trapped by the filtering technology.

The air discharged into the room is thus free from all harmful substances. Since no ductwork is required, a captair® Store filtering storage cabinet totally eliminates the direct discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere and therefore also contributes to the protection of the environment. The air discharged by the filter contains 50 times less pollutants than the acceptable values defined by the official health organisation responsible for ensuring workplace safety. This permanent recirculation of the filtered air also serves to purify the ambient air of the laboratory.

The installation of a captair® store unit is very quick and easy: a single electrical outlet is all that is needed to make it work, its setting up can be realised at any time, without any complex forward planning. Its operational costs remain at minimum even when taking into account filter changes.