Health aspects of biotechnology

This paper reviews biotechnological processes and their health implications for workers and the general public. Industrial fermentations are not new and most of the hazards are known. Novel hazards may be associated with new products or with organisms which have not previously been grown on a large scale or which are the result of recombinant DNA technology. However, the likely hazards can be identified and should not pose problems which cannot be overcome by good manufacturing practice. It is likely that, in general, biotechnological processes will be safer than those they replace. By offering new methods of processing and detoxifying waste, biotechnology will also help reduce environmental damage through careless waste disposal.