Microbiological Risk Assessment and Bioprocess Engineering

The Europe 2020 strategy (European Commission, 2010) calls a bioeconomy as a key element for smart and green growth in Europe. The development of a greener and more resource-efficient economy gives rise to new technologies and materials, which in turn may result in increased exposure to biological agents or combinations of different potentially harmful factors. For example, the expanding recycling industry employs an increasing number of workers which have to face various health problems (pulmonary, gastrointestinal and skin problems) as a result of exposure to biological agents such as airborne microorganisms. However, specific numbers for occupational diseases in this sector are still lacking. There are various workplaces and professional activities especially from the green industry for which exposure to microbiological agents occur unexpectedly and in an uncontrolled way. The issue of uncontrolled microbial exposure there is for example in waste treatment and for retrofitting activities, both growing sectors of employment in a greening society. As a result of the problem in the green industrial sector, there is a need to develop tools for risk assessment and prevention measures. In order to be able to develop suitable risk management strategies, a further development of detection and identification methods for biological agents is needed to cover the whole spectrum of microorganisms. the present paper focuses on the microbiological risk assessment in the context of the development of new and safe industrial products and processes of green industry (bioindustry and bioprocessing).