LABORATORY ANIMAL ENVIRONMENT Heather Wipijewski, CVT This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded under the President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.  The solution was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor.  The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.  This solution is copyrighted by the institution that created it.  Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible.  All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.

MACROENVIRONMENT Factors within the animal room which affect animal health Light Temperature Humidity Ventilation Noise

Factors in macroenvironment Can affect animals’ behavior, health, and physiology. If they effect the animals’ health, it also impacts the experimental data. Environment required by animals may not be comfortable for researchers, caretakers, etc.

Factors Too hot or too cold Can induce stress in animals If temperature exceeds 80 F, adult mice may suffer from heat stress. Dogs and rabbits may adapt more readily to a room that is cooler than rodent rooms.

HUMIDITY Acceptable range of relative humidity is 30-70%. Prolonged low relative humidity is related to a disease called ringtail in rodents. Can produce respiratory problems in certain lab animals. High humidity can result in respiratory problems and rapid spoilage of food. Ringtail in a young rat. Picture courtesy of Canadian Council on Animal Care

VENTILATION Proper ventilation or air exchange helps eliminate noxious odors such as ammonia (from urine). Proper ventilation also helps reduce the number of airborne microorganisms and maintains desired temperature and humidity. The Guide recommends rate of 10-15 exchanges of fresh air per hour.

VENTILATION Positive or Negative Pressure Positive – Kept at higher pressure than surrounding rooms. Opening a door to a positive pressure room causes air to flow out toward the hall, which helps prevent outside contaminants from entering.

VENTILATION Negative – Kept at lower pressure than surrounding rooms. Opening a door into a negative pressure room would cause air in the hall to flow into the room, thus keeping airborne contaminants from escaping the room.

VENTILATION Animal quarantine and conditioning procedures – Usually conducted in rooms with negative pressure. Special rooms designed to contain hazardous agents are also under negative pressure

VENTILATION Positive Pressure – Surgery suites, barrier rooms and some animal rooms are maintained under positive pressure.

LIGHTING Should be evenly distributed and bright enough to permit techs to sere the animals. Lights on timers need to be checked regularly. Long exposure to bright light can be a problem, especially for albino animals.

NOISE Impossible to completely rid of noise Best to try to reduce the amount of noise in animal rooms and outside of them. Cats, certain rodents, guinea pigs and rabbits do not respond well to noise. Sometimes investigators may request that a radio is playing in an animal room as background noise. Helps reduce the startle factor.

TYPES OF ANIMAL ROOMS Conventional or Barrier-maintained Barrier-Maintained – Designed to prevent entry of disease into a room OR prevent disease from the room from getting out. Animals in these rooms are frequently considered as specific pathogen-free (SPF)

FACILITY SECURITY All lab animal facilities have some sort of security. Locks on outside doors Computerized card entry system. Keys, access codes and cards should NEVER be given to any unauthorized person!

CAGEWASHING ROOM Noisy area Should be done away from animal rooms and offices Well ventilated

QUARANTINE, ISOLATION, CONDITONING Quarantine – Place where new animals are placed. Allows us to monitor for any signs of illness before putting in general population. Conditioning – Period when animals are in quarantine. They are getting “used to” their surroundings. Isolation – Animals are placed in isolation when they are ill with a contagious disease which can be passed to other lab animals or lab personnel.

FEED AND BEDDING STORAGE Feed and bedding normally stored in 2 different areas. Both must be vermin proof and dry. Bags of feed or bedding, should be placed on shelves or pallets away from walls. Environment should be constantly cool and dry to prevent spoilage.

DEAD ANIMAL STORAGE AND DISPOSAL Deceased animals are normally placed in plastic bags and either frozen or refrigerated until they are destroyed or removed from the facility.

MICROENVIRONMENT Factors INSIDE the animals cage which can affect health Food Water Bedding Enrichment

BEDDING Good quality bedding Availability Non-nutritive Absorbency Nontoxicity Comfort Disposability Uniform size