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Incorporating susceptible subpopulations in microbial risk assessment: pediatric exposures to enteroviruses in river water

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 13, pages 161–168 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The City of Stockton, California operates a wastewater treatment facility that discharges treated effluent to the San Joaquin River. During a recent discharge permit renewal, the question was raised whether pathogenic microorganisms in the effluent may cause an unacceptably high health risk for body contact recreation in the vicinity of the discharge. An investigation was initiated to characterize the risk to public health via body contact recreation in the San Joaquin River under various flow and treatment scenarios. In this investigation, a disease transmission model was applied to quantitatively characterize the relative risk associated with various treatment and flow scenarios for the City of Stockton's wastewater treatment facility. An important component of the investigation was to assess the feasibility of quantitatively characterizing the risk to highly susceptible subpopulations for effluent-related exposures to enteroviruses. This paper presents the methods used to conduct the feasibility assessment, the conclusions drawn for this project, and our recommendations to improve exposure assessments of susceptible subpopulations' contact with microbial pathogens in recreational water.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this investigation was provided by the City of Stockton, Municipal Utilities Department. We thank Mr. Don Dodge and Mr. Morris Allen for their support of this investigation and Mr. Robert Hultquist, Dr. Steven Book, and Mr. Carl Lischeske of the California Department of Health Services for their constructive input and review. We also acknowledge Lisa Ragain, Martha Embrey, and Bridget Ambrose for their technical assistance in preparing this publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Risk Science and Public Health of The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Rebecca T Parkin

  2. EOA, Inc., Oakland, California, USA

    Jeffrey A Soller & Adam W Olivieri

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  1. Rebecca T Parkin
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Correspondence to Rebecca T Parkin.

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Parkin, R., Soller, J. & Olivieri, A. Incorporating susceptible subpopulations in microbial risk assessment: pediatric exposures to enteroviruses in river water. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 13, 161–168 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500265

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