Overview
- Personal Care Products
- Monitoring Exposure to Organic Compounds
- Organics and Reproductive Health
- International Research in Organic Compounds
Under the leadership of Dr. Russ Hauser MD, ScD, MPH, the Organic Pollutants Core brings together faculty with diverse backgrounds and interests to address the health effects of organics across the lifespan. The primary focus of this core is fetal development through puberty. Our core faculty members have developed research that has been critical to addressing the public health impact of organic pollutants. As evidenced below, the core has a special emphasis on modern chemicals such as phthalates and historic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins.
An important, but understudied, area in environmental health sciences is the potential adverse health affects of exposure to modern organic chemicals. Although modern chemistry and the subsequent birth of synthetic chemicals date back many decades, we continue to have a limited understanding of the potential public health impact of these ubiquitous chemicals of modern life. Chemicals are widely used in products of everyday life, such as in plastics to make them soft and flexible, in personal care products to hold scent and as a preservative, and in a variety of building products. They are also used in food packaging and processing materials and a variety of toys and products for babies and young children. Among the 80,000 or so chemicals of modern life, there is a subset that is hormonally active, defined as chemicals that alter endocrine signaling at low levels of exposure. As a result of altered endocrine signaling, there may be adverse effects on reproductive health, specifically fertility, as well as on pregnancy and birth outcomes.
Highlights
Title: Organic Pollutants, Children's Health, and Reproductive Health
Core Director:
Dr. Russ B. Hauser, M.D., Sc.D., M.P.H., Core Director, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Health
Core Co-Directors
Dr. James P. Shine, Ph.D., B.S., Core Co-Director, Associate Professor of Aquatic Chemistry, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Thomas J. Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H., B.A., Core Co-Director, Professor of Industrial Hygiene, Department of Environmental Health
Core Members
Dr. David C. Christiani, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., Professor of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology (HSPH), Professor of Medicine (HMS), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), Harvard Medical School
Dr. Douglas W. Dockery, Sc.D., M.S., M.S., Professor of Environmental Epidemiology (HSPH), Associate Professor of Medicine (HMS), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), Harvard Medical School
Dr. Philippe Grandjean, M.D., Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health (HSPH), Professor of Environmental Medicine (University of Southern Denmark), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), University of Southern Denmark
Dr. Robert F. Herrick, S.D., M.S., B.A., Senior Lecturer on Industrial Hygiene, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Susan Korrick, MD, MPH., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Lecturer in Occupational Health at Harvard School of Public Health, and Associate Physician in the Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory Division, at Brigham and Women's Hospital
Dr. Francine Laden Sc.D., Assistant Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, EER Program, Environmental Health, HSPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Melissa J. Perry, ScD, M.H.S., Assistant Professor of Occupational Epidemiology
Dr. John D. Spengler, Ph.D., M.S., B.S., Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Marc Weiskopf, Ph.D, Research Fellow, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Jennifer Weuve, Sc.D, M.P.H., Research Associate, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Paige L. Williams, Ph.D., M.S., B.S., Lecturer on Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics
