Safety in the field of forensic medicine is always a priority, both in the laboratory and at the crime scene. There are many different tools and products available that forensic scientists can use to carry out their research and daily tasks safely and efficiently. Some of these products include alternative light sources, proof drying chambers, latent print development chambers, and fume hoods. Each of these products has its specific role and work in the laboratory. For this project I will focus on laboratory fume hoods that could help reduce risks often found in the laboratory. A very important piece of equipment in any forensic laboratory is the biological safety cabinet, also known as a fume hood. These products are not all created equally. They all have very different protective abilities. The main purpose of a fume hood, however, is to provide a constant airflow for a clean and safe work area. “Fume hoods are designed to capture and exhaust contaminants resulting from working with chemicals” (McLeod 2011). Essentially a fume hood provides protection to the employee by limiting exposure to hazardous and/or toxic fumes and vapors while keeping these chemical work areas contained. These fume hoods are extremely important in the forensic laboratory. Employees are often exposed to different types of risks, chemical, biological and physical. Fume hoods help protect against chemical and biological hazards by protecting the user from inhaling toxic gases and any other airborne hazards. Sometimes, when working with toxic chemicals for a long period of time, the effects may not be noticed immediately but it will take time to affect the body. Some of these toxic chemicals may not have... half of the paper......nitions from biosafety level 2 but they also add some specific requirements. The chemicals and microbes used in these laboratories can cause serious or life-threatening illness if inhaled. All work done with any microbes in these laboratories must be carried out in the appropriate biosafety cabinet. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are not many biosafety level 4 laboratories in the United States or around the world. The microbes present in these laboratories are dangerous and exotic and pose a high risk of aerosol-transmitted infections. Infections caused by these microbes are often fatal and have no cure or vaccine. Different biosafety cabinets offer different levels of protection. The Thermo Scientific Herasafe KS biological safety cabinet offers exceptional protection, comfort and performance for advanced forensic laboratory applications.