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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Susan ChiltonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
In public health, risk experts often define acceptable risk targets without community input. We developed a novel method for applying behavioral microeconomics to integrate individuals’ risk preferences into risk assessment. To demonstrate this methodology, we explored a risk-risk tradeoff case scenario: increased asthma risk from increased cleaning and disinfection (C&D) and increased infection risk from decreased C&D for healthcare staff. Utilizing a risk-risk tradeoff (RRTO) framework, two datasets were informed with RRTO survey data describing the risks individuals would accept for one outcome to offset risk in another (i.e., “risk target”). A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) was deployed to output “critical concentrations,” viral concentrations on surfaces that yield risk targets for a single contaminated surface touch and a work shift. Critical concentrations were over four orders of magnitude larger for single-touch scenarios. Critical concentrations across risk target datasets were similar. Using the RRTO framework to inform QMRA advances the incorporation of individuals’ risk preferences in risk analyses outside economics.
Author(s): Wilson AM, Mussio I, Verhougstraete MP, Jung Y, Ashraf A, Chilton S, Hamilton KA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
Year: 2025
Volume: 22
Issue: 2
Pages: 132–148
Online publication date: 02/01/2025
Acceptance date: 17/10/2024
Date deposited: 26/06/2025
ISSN (print): 1545-9624
ISSN (electronic): 1545-9632
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2024.2423756
DOI: 10.1080/15459624.2024.2423756
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