Dr. Williams has authored several book chapters that describe the risk analysis process, how to characterize human health risks, and risk assessments for specific chemicals. These include (1) a chapter entitled The Risk Analysis Framework: Risk Assessment, Risk Management and Risk Communication in the Indoor Air Quality Handbook, (2) a chapter on Risk Characterization in the book Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Theory and Practice, and (3) a chapter on Risk Assessment in the MTBE Remediation Handbook.

Dr. Williams has also assessed the human health risks from a variety of chemicals in community and occupational settings. For example, she quantified consumers’ cancer and non-cancer risks from methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in public drinking water based on three potential routes of household exposure (consumption of drinking water, inhalation from volatilized vapor, and dermal contact with water) using probabilistic methods. Additionally, she has compared the estimated cancer risk from MTBE relative to that from other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly found in drinking water.

Fig. 2. Relative unadjusted and adjusted cancer risks for 12 VOCs based on estimated drinking water exposures (by route) from 1998 to 2002.

Williams, P.R.D., L. Benton, and P. Sheehan. 2004. The risk of MTBE relative to other VOCs in public drinking water in California. Risk Analysis. 24: 621-634.