How dangerous or safe is it to culture organisms isolated from the home environment?

Answer from a Biosafety Officer:

June 10, 2013

According to best practices in biosafety, use of Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) practices and facilities are recommended when working with samples that contain unknown microbes, and therefore unknown hazards (1:  Section II:  Biological Risk Assessment; 2:  Isolation of Unknown Microbes from the Environment).

References:    

1. Wilson, D., and L. Chosewood, editors.  Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), 5th edition.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health.  2009.  http://www.cdc.gov/biosafety/publications/bmbl5/.  Accessed 03/03/2013.

2. American Society for Microbiology.  Draft Guidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories.  2012.  http://www.asmcue.org/documents/ASMBiosafetyGuidelines-v2.pdf.  Accessed 03/03/2013.