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HIV and the Bloodborne Pathogen Regulation: implications for the wastewater industry
Author(s) -
Johnson Richard W.,
Blatchley Ernest R.,
Mason Dana R.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/wer.66.5.4
Subject(s) - transmission (telecommunications) , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , environmental health , limiting , occupational exposure , human pathogen , wastewater , pathogen , medicine , virology , risk analysis (engineering) , biology , immunology , environmental science , environmental engineering , computer science , engineering , telecommunications , mechanical engineering , bacteria , genetics
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires all employers to develop protocols to minimize occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens and, in the case that occupational exposure cannot be eliminated, to inform their employees of any risk that bloodborne pathogens may present. Compared to most bloodborne pathogens, little information is available on the potential for occupational transmission of HIV from wastewater. To assess this potential, current information relative to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) physiology, behavior, and analytical methods are reviewed. Information regarding the concentration of HIV in human waste and the survivability of HIV outside the human body is presented relative to the potential for virus transmission. From this information, it appears that the probability of such transmission approaches zero, but it cannot be ruled out entirely. It is more likely that human contact with wastewater will result in the transmission of pathogenic microorganisms other than HIV. Practices which limit or eliminate the risk of occupational transmission of “conventional” pathogens (namely, those practices prescribed under the Bloodborne Pathogen Regulation and the Universal Precautions of the Centers for Disease Control) will probably be effective in limiting HIV transmission from wastewater.