Exhaust system for bone cement

An exhaust system for evacuating toxic fumes produced when mixing bone cement from an operating room to an external atmosphere comprising in combination, a vacuum plenum, an exhaust hood affixed to the vacuum plenum and defining a mixing zone, said hood having an aperture at a lower front portion thereof for allowing access to said mixing zone for mixing of bone cement directly under said hood, an exhaust conduit connecting the vacuum plenum to the external atmosphere, fan means within the plenum for drawing air and fumes emanated during mixing of said cement through the hood into the plenum and directing it out of the exhaust conduit and into the external atmosphere, said fan means being operable to direct an air flow through said system of more than 350 cubic feet per minute but less than an amount that would create a negative pressure in the operating room for drawing substantially all of the toxic fumes generated during mixing of said bone cement into said hood and plenum and diluting said fumes in said air flow such that the effluent exhausted into the external atmosphere has less than about one part by million toxicity, and timer means for establishing an interval of operation of said fan means to automatically limit the amount of air exhausted by the vacuum system.