Evolution Of

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 600 Evolution of the 1600 The origin of the modern fume hood lies in the fireplaces of ancient alchemists who combined Chemical elements of chemistry, physics, metallurgy, and mysticism, often in attempts to convert base materials into Fume Hood precious metals. The chemical fume hood can be found in virtually any type of lab and functions to protect workers from exposure to hazardous or noxious fumes, vapors, or dusts by safely removing them from the immediate working environment.

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 19 1790 Joseph Priestley designs a chemical exhaust system for his laboratory in Pennsylvania operated by large man- 00 Early powered bellows. 1900s One of the earliest scientists concerned with laboratory ventilation, Thomas Edison uses the fireplace chimney to exhaust noxious fumes and odors from his lab.

 Thomas Edison

1923 The first recognizable fume hood in the modern sense of the word is developed at the University of Leeds. It consisted of a large cabinet standing at working height and incorporated vertical rising sashes arranged like parallel windows.

1939 1940s The Arthur D. Little Research 1945 1943 and Development firm During World War II, John Weber, Jr. working at the develops the first HEPA filter considerable advances were Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, (high efficiency particulate made to fume hood technology developed the concept of a air) under a classified in response to fears of toxic constant face velocity, variable government contract as part chemical exposure and exhaust flow fume hood control. of the Manhattan Project to radiation, with improvements This design was applied to a prevent the spread of airborne in design, safety, and 19 vertical rising sash hood served radioactive contaminants. ventilation. by a dedicated hood exhaust fan. The concept eventually became a standard feature employed on many fume hoods at that time in Early 50 atomic laboratories, especially 1951 where ventilation containment H.W. Alyea, chief field within the hood was critical. 1950s engineer, Johnson Service Co. John Turner, working in the (now Johnson Controls, Inc.), Engineering Department at realized that keeping the door Oak Ridge National Laboratory of a fume hood closed as much (ORNL), suggested replacing as possible, and certainly vertical rising sashes with when not in use, resulted in horizontal sliding sashes in order considerable savings in the to reduce energy consumption. amount of air supplied, with 1961 He also introduced the use of a Labconco introduced its first proportional reduction in mechanical damper that worked one-piece molded fiberglass- cooling demand, improved off the imbalance between line fume hood. Fiberglass filter life, and considerable external and internal hood was chosen to line the fume energy savings. pressures. hood as it offers durability, cleanability, high light reflectivity, fire resistance, 1968 and chemical resistance. François-Pierre Hauville created the company Erlab and began 1970s selling the first ductless fume 1970s The first walk-in fume hood in the same year. The 1970s saw the introduction hood is introduced of auxiliary air fume hoods, by Labconco. which conserved energy by introducing outside air into the hood, reducing the loss of tempered air from the laboratory. This type of fume hood requires the use of two duct and blower systems.

1970s 1980s Originally, fume hoods were constructed from wood, but during the 1970s and 1980s, epoxy powder-coated steel became the norm. 1990s New material technologies, and requirements for chemical resistance and flame spread 1996 1996 retardance leads to the AirClean Systems introduces the The AFNOR NFX 15-211 standard increased use of plastic only bonded carbon filter into the was introduced, allowing the laminates and solid grade labopratory fume hood market performance of a ductless fume laminates for fume hood hood to be evaluated based on construction. strict criteria. This standard 20 is used today as the reference standard for all fume hoods. 2002 2000s First sliding safety glass ductless Driven by demand for more 00 fume hood introduced by energy efficient models, low- AirClean Systems flow fume hoods operating at 50-60 fpm are developed that deliver excellent performance while saving energy and money.

Future of Fume Hoods The future of fume hood technology is likely to be led by the demand for increased efficiency and cost savings, reduced environmental impact, and advanced monitoring and controls.