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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
Safety Precautions and Operating Procedures in an (A)BSL-4 Laboratory: 3. Aerobiology
Published on: October 3, 2016
Control of air quality in an assisted reproductive technology laboratory
W R Boone1, J E Johnson, A J Locke
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Greenville Hospital System, South Carolina 29605, USA.
Objective:
To investigate the effect of improved air quality on IVF and subsequent embryo development.
Design:
Retrospective cohort study.
Setting:
Hospital-based IVF facility composed of an anteroom, a cleanroom, and an adjacent operating room.
Patient(S):
Two-hundred seventy-five couples requesting IVF between 1993 and 1997.
Intervention(S):
None.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Particle counts (sizes 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 microm); IVF rates; and embryo quality (stage and grade).
Result(S):
Clinical pregnancy rates decreased from 35% in 1993 to 16% in 1994 (numerous construction odors were detected during 1994) and increased steadily after the cleanroom was built (rates for 1995-1997 were 20%, 32%, and 59%, respectively). Fertilization rates decreased between 1993 (74%) and 1994 (60%) and then steadily increased after cleanroom installation (62% in 1995, 71% in 1996, and 69% in 1997). The proportion of embryos past the four-cell stage decreased from 66% in 1993 to 61% in 1994 but then increased steadily in the years after the cleanroom was built (78%, 77%, and 83% in 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively). During the same 5-year period, there were no differences in embryo quality or number of embryos transferred.
Conclusion(S):
Construction of a Class 100 cleanroom improved air quality and IVF rate and increased the number of embryos past the four-cell stage available for transfer.
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