| Summary: | The American Academy of Microbiology convened a colloquium October 6-8, 2006, in Tucson, Arizona, to review the status of microbial risk assessment as it applies to waterborne disease. Experts from diverse fields--including microbiology, public health, engineering, epidemiology, medicine, and water science--discussed some of the controversial topics in microbial risk assessment, research subjects that could move the field forward, and the need for increased training and risk communication. The colloquium elicited intense discussion as there is still need to solidify approaches to the microbial risk assessment of water. Numerical water quality standards, for example, are useful in some circumstances, but they are sometimes misapplied or calculated using specious assumptions. The term "acceptable risk" is also controversial. "Acceptable risk" implies that injuries from waterborne illness are expected and fitting, and acceptable risk figures may be appropriately used to derive water quality standards in some instances
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