Introduction

To inform policy and innovation, we need to be able to quantify the health risks of waterborne pathogens both now and in the future. We also need to understand the links between different pressures facing the environment and our health.

The research

We need a better understanding of how people are exposed to viruses and bacteria through different pathways. We’re conducting reviews of the literature on how different activities in and around our coasts affect exposure. From this research, we can develop a model of how this impacts on health using dose-response functions that tell us the effects of different levels of exposure.

We’re also assessing interventions. For example, we don’t know how people respond to warnings about bathing water quality. Do they go to a different beach? Do they go to the same beach but change their activities? Do they swim and try to keep their head out of the water?

The impact

Understanding health risks from exposures may impact on a range of policies and actions, including regulation of bathing water quality, measures to improve occupational safety and the development of early warning systems.