Risk Assessment
We work primarily with federal agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to characterize risks to public health and the environment associated with chemical and biological agents. We develop methods, models, and data to help these agencies quantify potential risks to individuals, populations, and sensitive subpopulations (e.g., children) exposed through contact with contaminated media (e.g., dermal contact with soil) and food commodities (e.g., consumption of contaminated beef).
Our multidisciplinary risk assessment teams leverage a wide range of our experts in environmental science, toxicology, statistics, behavioral science, ecology, and modeling to develop cutting edge approaches to predicting and characterizing risk. We engage our clients through the design and implementation of each risk assessment to ensure that we are providing the highest quality research in support of the risk management process.
Focus Areas
- Food safety risk assessment (e.g., Salmonella spp. in fresh produce)
- Beneficial uses of industrial materials (e.g., roadway construction)
- Integrated health and ecological risk assessment of multiple pollutants
- Multimedia, multipathway modeling of chemicals and pathogens
- Effect of chemical, physical, and biological stressors on ecosystem services
- Emerging risk management issues associated with nanotechnology
- Potential risks associated with pharmaceuticals and personal care products
- Chemical and microbial pollutants in biosolids
- Safe management of chemical-containing wastes (e.g., landfills)
- Integrated life cycle and risk assessment methods
Capabilities
- Probabilistic risk assessment
- Quantitative microbial risk assessment
- Model development
- Hazard identification and characterization
- Environmental toxicology
- Exposure assessment
- Health effects assessment
- Decision support (comparative risk assessment, risk ranking, risk prioritization)
- Scientific peer review
Projects
- Predicting risks from pathogen contamination of fresh produce
- Characterizing health and ecological risk assessment of biosolids
- Pharmaceuticals and personal care products data development
- Data for environmental modeling (D4EM): An open-source tool to parameterize environmental models
- Multimedia, multipathway, multireceptor risk assessment (3MRA) modeling system
- Beneficial use of mine tailings used in roadway construction
- Comparative risk assessment of pesticides used to control malaria
- Development of a microbial risk assessment model for biosolids
Feature
Biomass Cookstoves and Human HealthWith funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are applying our cross-disciplinary strengths and technical ex... Read more