Ammonia Abatement System for Whole-Body Small Animal Inhalation Exposures to AcidAerosols

摘要

Conducting whole-body acid aerosol inhalation exposures of laboratory animals iscomplicated by ammonia arising from the excrement of the test animals which is sufficient to completely neutralize much of the acid aerosol. The development of a small animal whole-body ammonia reduction system (SAWBARS) for inhalation exposures was desirable for long-term rodent exposure studies. The removal of ammonia was accomplished by designing and fabricating stainless steel excreta pan manifolds to exhaust ammonia from the pans as it was generated. In addition, all chamber air influent was conditioned by a wet scrubber to remove ambient ammonia, minimizing background levels of the vapor. Total chamber air effluent was exhausted through the excreta pan manifolds. The modification effectively removed up to 99% of the ammonia from the chamber atmosphere when incorporated with daily animal bedding changes during non-exposure periods. (Copyright (c) 1993 Taylor and Francis.)