Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) tool for modelling pathogen infection risk to wastewater treatment plant workers.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) provide vital services to the public by removing contaminants from wastewater prior to environmental discharge or reuse for beneficial purposes. WWTP workers occupationally exposed to wastewater can be at risk of respiratory or gastrointestinal diseases. The study objectives were to: (1) quantify pathogens and pathogen indicators in wastewater aerosols near different WWTP processes/unit operations, (2) develop a QMRA model for multi-pathogen and multi-exposure pathway risks, and (3) create a web-based application to perform and communicate risk calculations for wastewater workers.

Legionnaires' disease in dental offices: Quantifying aerosol risks to dental workers and patients.

is an opportunistic bacterial respiratory pathogen that is one of the leading causes of drinking water outbreaks in the United States. Dental offices pose a potential risk for inhalation or aspiration of due to the high surface area to volume ratio of dental unit water lines-a feature that is conducive to biofilm growth. This is coupled with the use of high-pressure water devices (e.