Final Program - Society for Risk Analysis

tions) were < 1 for sub-populations with highest 90th percentile ethylbenzene andtoluene exposures. This case study addresses an important research need and exemplifiessome of the data gaps that may impact cumulative exposure assessment efforts.The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarilyreflect the views or policies of the US EPA.P.79 Evensen DT; dte6@cornell.eduCornell UniversityA NEW YORK (OR PENNSYLVANIA) STATE OF MIND: CROSS-STATEDIFFERENCES IN PRINT MEDIA COVERAGE OF DRILLING FORNATURAL GAS IN THE MARCELLUS SHALE REGIONHydraulic fracturing for natural gas in shale formations throughout the UnitedStates is a rapidly proliferating means of fossil fuel extraction. The injection ofmillions of gallons of water deep into the ground to release natural gas offers potentiallylucrative economic gain for individuals leasing land and collecting royalties,but also creates potential for environmental hazards and threats to social well being(e.g., municipal services, infrastructure, community character) in areas subject to largeamounts of drilling. We conducted a content analysis of newspaper media coverageof hydraulic fracturing in four major local newspapers in the northern tier of Pennsylvaniaand the southern tier of New York. We examined the extent to which mediacoverage framed issues related to drilling as environmental, economic, and/or socialissues. We then analyzed the valence with which these issues were discussed. Coveragein Pennsylvania focused substantially more on economic issues and contained amuch higher percentage of positively valenced articles compared with coverage inNew York. NY coverage focused substantially more on environmental issues andcontained a much higher percentage of negative or mixed valence articles comparedwith PA coverage. We discuss several possible explanations for these notable differencesand offer implications for risk communication.T3-E.3 Evers EG, Horneman ML, Berk PA, Van Leusden FM, De Jonge R; eric.evers@rivm.nlNational Institute for Public Health, Bilthoven, The NetherlandsA CAMPYLOBACTER QMRA (QUANTITATIVE MICROBIOLOGICALRISK ASSESSMENT) FOR PETTING ZOOSThe relative importance of petting zoos for transmission of Campylobacter tohumans as an example direct contact route was estimated while including the effectof interventions. For this, a mathematical model including variability was built describingthe transmission of Campylobacter in animal feces from the various animalspecies and fences and the playground to humans. This transmission involves visitorstouching these so-called carriers, subsequently touching their lips and possibly ingestingcampylobacters. Many data were not available and therefore extensive field andlaboratory research was done to fulfill the needs. The distribution of fecal contaminationon all carriers was measured by swabbing in ten petting zoos, using Escherichiacoli as an indicator. The transmission rate from carrier to hand and from hand to lipwas measured using pre-applied cow feces to which E. coli WG5 was added as anindicator. Carrier-hand and hand-lip touching frequencies were estimated by in total13 days of observations of visitors by two observers at two petting zoos. Combiningthe exposure distributions with a Beta-Poisson dose response function gives estimationsof the probability of illness after a petting zoo visit due to Campylobacter of4.94E-5 for children and 8.63E-6 for adults. For the whole of the Netherlands in ayear this implies 232 and 38 cases for children and adults, respectively, so 270 casesin total. Comparison with the 12,000 Campylobacter cases due to consumption ofchicken filet as estimated by a previous QMRA shows that petting zoos are not animportant transmission route for Campylobacter. Cleaning the fences proves to be anadvisable intervention, as a scenario of 90% reduction of contamination gives an 84% reduction in the number of petting zoo Campylobacter cases. Cleaning only goatfences gives a 71% reduction, whereas the playground plays a minor role. The modelcan easily be adapted for other fecally transmitted pathogens.W3-E.1 Fanaselle WL, Dennis S, Oryang D, Pouillot R, Van Doren J; Wendy.Fanaselle@fda.hhs.govFood and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and NutritionSITE VISITS: A NOVEL MEANS OF FILLING-IN THE DATA GAPSAssessing and then managing risks has always been an integral part of foodsafety throughout history. Quantitative microbial risk assessment techniques arehelping to advance the scientific basis of our food safety regulation. The accuracy ofthese risk assessments is dependent on the amount of data available to develop therisk assessment models. However, the high degree of variability in the food supplysystem makes filling those data gaps very difficult and challenging, requiring new andcreative means for increasing our knowledge of the system to be modeled in a riskassessment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety andApplied Nutrition (CFSAN) continues to seek new methods to obtain this data andfill valuable data gaps needed for food safety risk assessments that have the desiredlevel of accuracy to assist with decision-making. One of the more novel, successfulmethods involves bringing the risk assessment team to visit all phases of the foodsupply system, including locations involved in food preparation, processing, manufacturing,harvesting, and consumption. For example, site visits were made to a cruiseship, a U.S. navy ship, produce processing plants, produce farm, spice processing andmanufacturing plants, dairy processing plants, and retail delis to help the teams developan understanding of means of microbial transmission, and the pros and consof potential mitigation strategies. Each site visit produced expected and unexpectedlessons learned. The biggest surprise to the teams was the value of the unexpectedlessons learned in filling risk assessment data gaps, and helping the teams better un-95