Reduce your Cleanroom Workbench Noise Pollution

What is workplace noise pollution?

Alongside environmental pollution through harmful substances, people are increasingly exposed to a new hazard: Growing environmental pollution through sounds and, even worse, through noise. Constant stress caused by noise can make people ill. The detrimental effects on health resulting from noise are extremely varied. They range from serious damage to hearing to hidden symptoms that usually develop slowly over many years, such as sleeping disorders, irritability or nervousness. While it is possible to take measures to reduce or avoid noise in one’s private life, this is often not possible in the workplace. The employer is obliged to take measures to keep the sound pressure level as low as possible. 

The requirements in respect of the cleanliness of laboratory environments and commercial premises have increased dramatically, particularly in the areas of industrial production, packaging and in analytics and medical laboratories and research. A particulate-free, sterile environment is often crucial in such fields. Small, local clean-room workbenches or laminar flow boxes meet these demands and protect the work area from particles, germs and dust. 

How does a flow box work?

The way in which a flow box works is quite simple. The ambient air is sucked in by a fan and forced through a HEPA H14 type particle filter. Many customers find the unavoidable fan noise disturbing over the long term. Spetec GmbH therefore made it a priority to develop a low-noise fan concept in collaboration with a fan manufacturer. The placement of the filter creates a laminar airflow in the working area. The purified air generates overpressure and acts as a curtain to protect the sample from the ingress of particles. 

All Laminar Flow Boxes of the CleanBoy® range remain below the noise level of a normal office (55 db) in normal operating mode. In this mode, the Spetec Laminar Flow Module FMS 37 has a noise level no greater than quiet music. Even at its highest performance level, the noise level does not exceed the values prescribed for industrial workplaces (80 db). In terms of noise emissions, Spetecs’ laminar flow boxes meet all the requirements for minimising noise pollution in the workplace. The achievable noise level reflects the current state of the art in fan technology, and none of the module sizes offered exceeds the values prescribed for general-purpose offices during normal operation. They can be fitted (as ceiling-mounted versions) or installed as floor-standing versions in existing analytical laboratories as well as in electronic and optical manufacturing facilities or in the packaging lines for medical or pharmaceutical products. And all of this comes without the need for costly building work or any modification to the existing air-conditioning systems.

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