John Giesy | |
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Born | 1948 (age 75–76) Youngstown, Ohio, US |
Awards | Miroslaw Romanowski Medal |
Academic background | |
Education | BA, 1970, Alma College MS, 1971, PhD, Fisheries & Wildlife (Limnology), 1974, Michigan State University |
Thesis | The effects of humic acids on the growth of and uptake of iron and phosphorus by the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus (Türp) Kütz (1974) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Saskatchewan Western College of Veterinary Medicine Michigan State University University of Georgia |
John Paul Giesy Jr. FRSC (born 1948) is an American ecotoxicologist. He is a Emeritus Distinguished Professor and former Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Saskatchewan. Giesy was credited with being the first scientist to discover toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl [PFAS] chemicals in the environment. His discoveries also include the photo-enhanced toxicity and the presence of perfluorinated chemicals in the environment.
Giesy was born in 1948 in Youngstown,Ohio,US. [1] He graduated from Alma College in 1970 before enrolling at Michigan State University (MSU) for his master's degree and PhD. [2] Giesy later received Alma College's Distinguished Alumni Award. [3]
Giesy started his career at the University of Georgia before returning to MSU. [4] As a professor at MSU,Giesy became a member of their pesticide research center and served as president-elect of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. [5] In 1987,Giesy was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to lecture and conduct research at Bayreuth University in West Germany. [6] Following this,he received the 1990 CIBA-GEIGY Agricultural Recognition Award for "lifelong contributions to the science of environmental toxicology and continuing excellence in research and teaching." [5]
At the turn of the century,Giesy and Kurunthachalam Kannan were the first to report on "the global distribution of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS),a fluorinated organic contaminant." Based on the findings of their 2000 study,Giesy and Kannan said that "PFOS were widely detected in wildlife throughout the world" and that "PFOS is widespread in the environment." They said that "PFOS can bioaccumulate to higher trophic levels of the food chain" and that the "concentrations of PFOS in wildlife are less than those required to cause adverse effects in laboratory animals." [7] Giesy was also credited with being the first scientist to discover toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl [PFAS] chemicals in the environment. [8]
As a result of his research,Giesy was named an Einstein Professor,the highest honor bestowed to non-Chinese by the Chinese Academy of Science,and was appointed the Distinguished Honorary Professor at King Saud University as the top environmental toxicologist in the world. During his tenure at MSU,his discoveries included the cause of deformities and lethality in birds of the Great Lakes,photo-enhanced toxicity,and the presence of perfluorinated chemicals in the environment,an important new class of contaminants widely used in common commercial products. [4]
Giesy eventually left MSU to become a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) and professor in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences. [9] In 2010,Giesy was elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) for being "among the world’s most influential environmental toxicologists whose work in ecological risk assessment,including aquatic,wildlife and avian toxicology,has had global impact." [4] He was also among the three nominees for the 2010 Innovation Place-Industry Liaison Office Award of Innovation for having co-developed an assay test that evaluates the effects of chemicals on hormones. [9]
While at U of S,Giesy continued to conduct research on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and was sought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a way to test for these chemicals. As a result,his research team devised a test for use in worldwide screening programs. [10] In 2012,Giesy was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Paris-based Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment and China’s Zhongyu Environmental Technologies Corporation. [11] He was also awarded RSC's Miroslaw Romanowski Medal in recognition of his "critical work addressing environmental contamination." [10]
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,and like many US municipalities,Giesy helped develop an early warning system for the coronavirus by sampling and testing the city’s wastewater. [12] By 2021,his laboratory started picking up shedding of the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant two weeks prior to an Alberta outbreak by studying the sewage. [13] Geisy's wastewater studies were very similar to prior studies conducted in early 2020 by MIT,Harvard,and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. [14]
In 2019,Giesy was awarded an honorary doctorate from Masaryk University in the Czech Republic,in the field of environmental sciences. [15]
In 2018,Giesy was accused of covertly suppressing academic research on the dangers of PFAS for the benefit of 3M. [16] [17] Attorneys representing the state of Minnesota claimed Giesy was part of 3M's alleged campaign to "distort" and "suppress" scientific research on the toxicity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. [18] Giesy subsequently denied all of the allegations and argued that they were "an attempt by the State of Minnesota and its Attorney General,Lori Swanson,to smear his reputation after he declined to serve as an expert for them in a lawsuit against 3M." [16] However,emails show that Giesy filtered studies,pushing those that he could to 3M in an effort to delay or prevent publication,adding that he would bill differently to prevent a paper trail to 3M. [17] [19]
Toxicology is a scientific discipline,overlapping with biology,chemistry,pharmacology,and medicine,that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating exposures to toxins and toxicants. The relationship between dose and its effects on the exposed organism is of high significance in toxicology. Factors that influence chemical toxicity include the dosage,duration of exposure,route of exposure,species,age,sex,and environment. Toxicologists are experts on poisons and poisoning. There is a movement for evidence-based toxicology as part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices. Toxicology is currently contributing to the field of cancer research,since some toxins can be used as drugs for killing tumor cells. One prime example of this is ribosome-inactivating proteins,tested in the treatment of leukemia.
Perfluorooctanoic acid is a perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical processes and as a material feedstock. PFOA is considered a surfactant,or fluorosurfactant,due to its chemical structure,which consists of a perfluorinated,n-heptyl "tail group" and a carboxylate "head group". The head group can be described as hydrophilic while the fluorocarbon tail is both hydrophobic and lipophobic.
Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a chemical compound having an eight-carbon fluorocarbon chain and a sulfonic acid functional group and thus a perfluorosulfonic acid. It is an anthropogenic (man-made) fluorosurfactant,now regarded as a global pollutant. PFOS was the key ingredient in Scotchgard,a fabric protector made by 3M,and related stain repellents. The acronym "PFOS" refers to the parent sulfonic acid and to various salts of perfluorooctanesulfonate. These are all colorless or white,water-soluble solids. Although of low acute toxicity,PFOS has attracted much attention for its pervasiveness and environmental impact. It was added to Annex B of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in May 2009.
Biosolids are solid organic matter recovered from a sewage treatment process and used as fertilizer. In the past,it was common for farmers to use animal manure to improve their soil fertility. In the 1920s,the farming community began also to use sewage sludge from local wastewater treatment plants. Scientific research over many years has confirmed that these biosolids contain similar nutrients to those in animal manures. Biosolids that are used as fertilizer in farming are usually treated to help to prevent disease-causing pathogens from spreading to the public. Some sewage sludge can not qualify as biosolids due to persistent,bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals,radionuclides,and heavy metals at levels sufficient to contaminate soil and water when applied to land.
Microwave popcorn is a convenience food consisting of unpopped popcorn in an enhanced,sealed paper bag intended to be heated in a microwave oven. In addition to the dried corn,the bags typically contain cooking oil with sufficient saturated fat to solidify at room temperature,one or more seasonings,and natural or artificial flavorings or both.
3M Company is an American multinational conglomerate operating in the fields of industry,worker safety,healthcare,and consumer goods. The company produces over 60,000 products under several brands,including adhesives,abrasives,laminates,passive fire protection,personal protective equipment,window films,paint protection films,dental and orthodontic products,electrical and electronic connecting and insulating materials,medical products,car-care products,electronic circuits,healthcare software,and optical films. It is based in Maplewood,a suburb of Saint Paul,Minnesota.
Scotchgard is a 3M brand of products,a stain and durable water repellent applied to fabric,furniture,and carpets to protect them from stains. Scotchgard products typically rely on organofluorine chemicals as the main active ingredient along with petroleum distillate solvents.
Environmental toxicology is a multidisciplinary field of science concerned with the study of the harmful effects of various chemical,biological and physical agents on living organisms. Ecotoxicology is a subdiscipline of environmental toxicology concerned with studying the harmful effects of toxicants at the population and ecosystem levels.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS or PFASs) are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain. An early definition,from 2011,required that they contain at least one perfluoroalkyl moiety,–CnF2n+1–. Beginning in 2021,the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expanded their terminology,stating that "PFASs are defined as fluorinated substances that contain at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom (without any H/Cl/Br/I atom attached to it),i.e.,with a few noted exceptions,any chemical with at least a perfluorinated methyl group (–CF3) or a perfluorinated methylene group (–CF2–) is a PFAS."
Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) is a PFAS chemical compound having a four-carbon fluorocarbon chain and a sulfonic acid functional group. It is stable and unreactive because of the strength of carbon–fluorine bonds. It can occur in the form of a colorless liquid or a corrosive solid. Its conjugate base is perfluorobutanesulfonate which functions as the hydrophobe in fluorosurfactants.
A perfluorinated compound (PFC) or perfluoro compound is an organofluorine compound lacking C-H bonds. Many perfluorinated compounds have properties that are quite different from their C-H containing analogues. Common functional groups in PFCs are OH,CO2H,chlorine,O,and SO3H. Electrofluorination is the predominant method for their production. Due to their chemical stability,some of these perfluorinated compounds bioaccumulate.
Perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride (POSF) is a synthetic perfluorinated compound with a sulfonyl fluoride functional group. It is used to make perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and PFOS-based compounds. These compounds have a variety of industrial and consumer uses,but POSF-derived substances ultimately degrade to form PFOS.
Susan D. Shaw was an American environmental health scientist,marine toxicologist,explorer,ocean conservationist,and author. A Doctor of Public Health,she was a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health at the State University of New York at Albany,and Founder/President of the Shaw Institute,a nonprofit scientific institution with a mission to improve human and ecological health through innovative science and strategic partnerships. Shaw is globally recognized for pioneering high-impact environmental research on ocean pollution,climate change,oil spills,and plastics that has fueled public policy over three decades. In 1983,with landscape photographer Ansel Adams,she published Overexposure,the first book to document the health hazards of photographic chemicals. Shaw is credited as the first scientist to show that brominated flame retardant chemicals used in consumer products have contaminated marine mammals and commercially important fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. She became the first scientist to dive into the Gulf of Mexico oil slick following the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion to investigate the impacts of chemical dispersants used in response to the spill.
GenX is a Chemours trademark name for a synthetic,short-chain organofluorine chemical compound,the ammonium salt of hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA). It can also be used more informally to refer to the group of related fluorochemicals that are used to produce GenX. DuPont began the commercial development of GenX in 2009 as a replacement for perfluorooctanoic acid.
Michael L. Dourson is an American toxicologist and Director of Science at the nonprofit organization,Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment. He was formerly a senior advisor to the Administrator of EPA,and prior to that,a professor at the Risk Science Center at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Prior to joining the University of Cincinnati,he was founder and president of the nonprofit Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment. Earlier in his career,he was employed by the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office,among other assignments.
Perfluorobutane sulfonamide,also known as FBSA or H-FBSA,is a perfluorinated surfactant. FBSA and its N-alkylated derivatives have been patented by 3M for use in acid etch solutions with low surface tension. According to the inventors,FBSA and its derivatives are expected to have a smaller tendency to accumulate in living organisms than their perfluorooctanyl analogs such as PFOS. Nevertheless,a 2015 study found FBSA in 32 out of 33 samples of Canadian fish.
This timeline of events related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) includes events related to the discovery,development,manufacture,marketing,uses,concerns,litigation,regulation,and legislation,involving the human-made PFASs. The timeline focuses on some perfluorinated compounds,particularly perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and on the companies that manufactured and marketed them,mainly DuPont and 3M. An example of PFAS is the fluorinated polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE),which has been produced and marketed by DuPont under its trademark Teflon. GenX chemicals and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) are organofluorine chemicals used as a replacement for PFOA and PFOS.
Germaine M. Buck Louis was the Dean of the George Mason University College of Health and Human Services and professor in Mason’s Department of Global and Community Health. She led the College in becoming Virginia's first accredited College of Public Health prior to her retirement in 2022. Her expertise focuses on environmental exposures and human health,particularly human reproduction and pregnancy. Prior to her appointment as dean at George Mason in 2017,she was the founding Director for the Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Kristin Schirmer is a German cell biologist and toxicologist. She is the Head of Department of Environmental Toxicology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag)] and also a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and ETH Zurich. Schirmer specializes in Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Toxicity,Aquatic Organisms,Chemical Hazard Assessment,Adverse Outcome Pathways,in vitro Alternatives to Animal Testing,Fish Cell Lines and Biomonitoring.
Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) is a synthetic chemical compound. It is one of many compounds collectively known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). It is an anionic fluorosurfactant and a persistent organic pollutant with bioaccumulative properties. Although the use of products containing PFHxS and other PFASs have been banned or are being phased out in many jurisdictions,it remains ubiquitous in many environments and within the general population,and is one of the most commonly detected PFASs.
John Giesy publications indexed by Google Scholar