M.Bonner1, C.M.Lathers2, 1OPP, OPPTS, EPA Washington, DC, 2CVM, FDA, Rockville, MD
Risk assessment is the method of systematically identifying and assessing factors that influence the probability and consequences of a negative event occurring. Risk assessment provides the basis for the primary prevention of harm, in particular to identified vulnerable populations, and assists in prioritize of programs and techniques used to protect health concerns on Earth. Space travel involves acute and chronic hazard sources of risk that are varied and include risks from contamination, biological agents, and physiological imbalances. NASA conducted the first risk assessment to address questions of accidental transfer of Earth microbes to Mars during the first unmanned flights. This risk methodology directly benefited all living on Earth as the methodology was expanded to address many questions related to human and veterinary public health. Both risk assessment and risk communication programs were developed by NASA to address this program. The primary innovation of this approach is now widely used in risk assessment to determine probabilities of initiating events and to then assess probabilities conditional on the initiating event for subsequent events leading to the adverse outcome of concern. Risk assessment methodologies allow for the effective recognition and control of current and future risk for protection of the Earth and humanity. Opinions are authors and not policy of FDA.