Laminar flow cabinets (LFCs) ensure a safe working space within which product manipulation can be carried out safely excluding contaminations of the product with the environmental microorganisms. However, for environmental monitoring applications mobile laboratories are required and these prefer the lighter gloveboxes (GB; restricted arm movement) or still air boxes (SAB; free arm movement) over the heavier, more expensive LFCs, which need to be regularly maintained. Nevertheless, the efficiency of simple GBs/SABs (no HEPA filter), in providing semi-sterile working conditions has yet to be clearly defined. Consequently, our aim was to assess the suitability of GBs/SABs for semi-sterile applications by using passive and active bioaerosol sample collection procedures within the interior spaces of these boxes. Prior to sample collection the boxes were pre-treated with different spraying preparations (70% ethanol, 2% detergent or sterile water). For a greater restriction of bioaerosol entry, SABs were constructed with covered arm ports and these were classified as partially covered (SAB_PC) and completely covered SABs (SAB_CC). Results showed that ethanol sprayed GB and SAB_CC exhibited microbial aerosol colony counts of zero after one hour of passive sample collection, and active sample collection revealed counts ranging between 1.9 (for GB) - 2.3 Log₁₀CFU/m³ (for SAB_CC). However, ethanol sprayed SAB and SAB_PC were ineffective having colony counts of 6.9 and 6.5 Log₁₀CFU/m³, respectively. Other spraying regimes resulted in even higher colony counts (up to 7.3 Log₁₀CFU/m³). Therefore, the ethanol sprayed GB and SAB_CC could effectively be used for semi-sterile applications, with the SAB_CC allowing for an unrestricted arm movement within it.

层流柜 (LFC) 确保了一个安全的工作空间，在该空间内可以安全地进行产品操作，排除环境微生物对产品的污染。然而，对于环境监测应用，需要移动实验室，这些实验室更喜欢更轻的手套箱（GB；限制手臂运动）或静止空气箱（SAB；自由手臂运动），而不是需要定期维护的更重、更昂贵的 LFC。然而，简单的GB/SAB（无 HEPA 过滤器）在提供半无菌工作条件方面的效率尚未明确定义。因此，我们的目标是通过以下方法评估GBs/SABs在半无菌应用中的适用性：在这些盒子的内部空间内使用被动和主动生物气溶胶样品收集程序。在样品收集之前，用不同的喷雾制剂（70% 乙醇、2% 清洁剂或无菌水）对盒子进行预处理。为了更大程度地限制生物气溶胶的进入，SAB被构造为带有覆盖的臂端口，这些端口被分类为部分覆盖 (SAB _PC ) 和完全覆盖的 SAB (SAB _CC )。结果表明，乙醇喷洒的 GB 和 SAB _CC在被动样品收集一小时后显示微生物气溶胶菌落计数为零，而主动样品收集显示计数范围在 1.9（GB）- 2.3 Log ₁₀ CFU/m ³（SAB _CC）。然而，乙醇喷洒的 SAB 和 SAB _PC无效，菌落计数分别为 6.9 和 6.5 Log ₁₀ CFU/m ³。其他喷洒方案导致更高的菌落计数（高达7.3 Log ₁₀ CFU/m ³）。因此，乙醇喷洒的 GB 和 SAB _CC可以有效地用于半无菌应用，SAB _CC允许在其中不受限制的手臂运动。