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Inter-Laboratory Fecal Source Identification Comparison Study, which involves
the evaluation of 39 microbial source-tracking methods by 29 laboratories
(Shanks 2011).
To maximize the benefits of clean water, protect the general public, sustain
water resources, and restore impaired shorelines, decision-makers will need to rely
increasingly on an understanding of the long-term and short-term changes in water
quality and aquatic ecosystems. The advanced science and technology are poised
to play an increasingly important role in providing forecasts of effects on appro-
priate temporal and spatial scales. Advances could be made quickly for safe and
sustainable water resources
in the promotion of methodologic developments and
applications in rapid and predictive monitoring; development of and investment in
a safe-waters program that links genomic tools with watershed and beach-shed
characterizations; continued microbial characterization of stormwater, combined
sewage overflows, and wastewater; and development of and investment in innova-
tive engineering designs to reduce pollution loads.
Example of Using Emerging Science to Address Regulatory Issues
and Support Decision-Making: Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment
Quantitative microbial risk assessment had its beginnings in the 1980s; it
is associated with the first publication of dose-response models (Haas 1983) and
is now an accepted process for addressing waterborne disease risks and man-
agement strategies (Haas et al. 1999; Medema et al. 2003). Although great
strides have been made in using quantitative microbial risk assessment in EPA's
Office of Homeland Security (including leading an interagency working group
and the exchange of information with CDC), EPA has yet to take a leadership
role in developing the necessary databases for use in a national risk assessment
of wastewater, stormwater, and recreational water.
Linking biology, mathematics, health, the environment, and policy will
require substantial interdisciplinary research focused on problem-solving and
systems thinking. Quantitative microbial risk assessment has been seen as an
important framework for pulling science and data together and can lead to inno-
vative work in decision science. According to the Center for Advancing Micro-
bial Risk Assessment, “ultimately, the goal in assessing risks is to develop and
implement strategies that can monitor and control the risks (or safety) and al-
lows one to respond to emerging diseases, outbreaks and emergencies that im-
pact the safety of water, food, air, fomites, and in general our outdoor and indoor
environments” (CAMRA 2012). The framework is being promoted by the
World Health Organization (WHO 2004), and the international need for data,
education, and mathematical tools to assist countries around the world with the
implementation of quantitative microbial risk assessment strategies is para-
mount. More recently,
Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment
(NRC 2009) called for more integration with the risk-assessment-risk-
management paradigm. This approach will provide a pathway to the integration
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