Bioremediation - Risk Assessment of Engineered Organisms. Research Interests Risk Assessment Research into risk assessment involves developing methods for estimating hazard and exposure. Hazard is defined as the capability of the organism for adverse effect.
Exposure is the amount or number of organisms present at a particular time.
Our research involves estimating exposure. We have developed a microcosm method for simulating field conditions in the laboratory enabling the investigator to predict survival and persistence of an engineered microbe relative to its parent. We have field tested the procedure in Maryland and are in the process of testing it across Canada. The procedure will be used by regulators as part of their protocol for test data requirements for risk assessment. The most difficult part of estimating the hazard to building occupants from airborne bacteria is developing an estimate of the number of bacteria present.