Fume hoods are an integral part of laboratory ventilation design. In order to prevent laboratory workers from inhaling or swallowing some toxic, pathogenic or unknown chemicals and organisms, the laboratory should have good ventilation.

The answer to the question of “What type of fume hood should I use?” gets more complicated each time a new type of fume hood or ventilated enclosure is introduced to the market. Today in many laboratories large volumes of toxic chemicals are being replaced by much smaller volumes of less harmful chemicals.