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4. Secondary Impacts 
Issuance of the NIH Guidelines will have three secondary impacts 
in terms of environmental protection--!, e. , will reduce the potential 
risk to the environment from recombinant DNA research: 
a. Limited maximum -security containment capability 
Only a small number of maximum -security facilities are capable of 
meeting, or being modified to meet, the requirements of the Guidelines. 
The Guidelines therefore reduce the number of "High-risk" recom- 
binant DNA experiments that could be conducted were the Guidelines not 
imposed. 
b. Safety awareness 
The safe performance of biomedical research is dependent on an 
awareness of the risks and on the safeguards required to control the 
risks. Issuance of the NIH Guidelines should strengthen safety per- 
formance in general by providing safety information and increasing the 
laboratory worker's awareness of potential hazards and the correct 
procedures for dealing with them. 
c. Early recognition of unforeseen hazards 
The Guidelines require that the principal investigator notify NIH 
of any serious or extended illness or accident that may result in serious 
exposure to man or to the environment. This monitoring procedure 
will provide an early warning of possible unforeseen hazard. For 
example, if a laboratory infection from exposure to a recombinant 
DNA molecule is confirmed, indicating a real hazard, an increase in 
safeguards or cessation of experiments can be required to minimize 
the hazard to other investigators conducting similar studies. This 
provision will also reduce any potential for environmental effects. 
