How to average microbial densities to characterize risk

In the past, the geometric mean, or less frequently the arithmetic mean, has been used as a summary descriptor of microorganism densities in waters and other environmental media. It is shown in this paper that, if the interest is characterizing the risk from organisms that are described by either an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water research (Oxford) 1996, Vol.30 (4), p.1036-1038
Main Author: Haas, Charles N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air. Soil. Water. Waste. Feeding
Analysis methods
Applied sciences
Biological and medical sciences
Brackish
dose-response
Environment. Living conditions
Exact sciences and technology
Freshwater
infectivity
Marine
Medical sciences
microorganisms
Natural water pollution
Pollution
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
risk
statistics
Water treatment and pollution
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Summary:In the past, the geometric mean, or less frequently the arithmetic mean, has been used as a summary descriptor of microorganism densities in waters and other environmental media. It is shown in this paper that, if the interest is characterizing the risk from organisms that are described by either an exponential dose-response relationship, or a dose-response relationship that is linear at low doses, the appropriate summary descriptor is the arithmetic mean. Therefore, in future work, authors should be encouraged to report data on such organisms using this summary descriptor.
ISSN:0043-1354
1879-2448
DOI:10.1016/0043-1354(95)00228-6