Linda Birnbaum

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Linda Birnbaum
Linda Birnbaum.jpg
Born (1946-12-21) December 21, 1946 (age 77)
Passaic, New Jersey [1]
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipU.S.A
Alma mater University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
SpouseDavid Birnbaum
AwardsWas elected to the Institute of Medicine in October 2010, as well as to the Collegium Ramazzini; Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Illinois; 2013 Homer N. Calver Award from the American Public Health Association
Scientific career
Fields Toxicology, microbiology
Institutions National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Thesis Localization, enrichment and in vitro transcription of the ribosomal RNA genes in Escherichia coli  (1972)

Linda Silber Birnbaum is an American toxicologist, microbiologist and the former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, as well as the National Toxicology Program, positions she held from January 18, 2009 until October 3, 2019. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health [2] and as a member of the editorial board of Environment International . [3]

Contents

Education

Birnbaum, a native of New Jersey, attended Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Teaneck, New Jersey, where she became interested in science because she was a cheerleader, and her cheerleading coach was also her science teacher: "I was a cheerleader, and that positive reinforcement made it okay to like science," she recalled in an interview with Scientific American. [4] Birnbaum received her B.S. in biology from the University of Rochester and her M.S. and PhD degrees in microbiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Career

Birnbaum, prior to becoming the director of the NIEHS and NTP, worked at the National Toxicology Program as a senior staff fellow, then as a research microbiologist, and then as a group leader for the Chemical Disposition Group. Birnbaum then began a stint at the Environmental Protection Agency, where she directed the largest agency focused on environmental health research for 19 years. [5] She has also served as the past president of the Society of Toxicology. [6] After she became director of the NIEHS, she declared that she "plan[s] to create a holistic approach that can deal with the biggies, from complex mixtures of toxic chemicals to climate change." [7] She reiterated her commitment to addressing the effects of global warming on human health before the Copenhagen Summit that November. She singled out ozone and black carbon as examples of pollutants with serious adverse health effects. [8] Birnbaum retired as directory of NIEHS and NTP on October 3, 2019, but continues to perform laboratory research part-time at the institute. [9]

Research

Birnbaum has authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications. Her research focuses on the pharmacokinetic behavior of environmental chemicals and their health effects. [2] She is well known for her research on endocrine disruptors, particularly dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). [10]

Views on endocrine disrupting chemicals

Birnbaum's position on the safety of dioxins and PCBs has been described as "in the middle", [11] although she has expressed concern about the safety of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and contends that they may be linked to "impaired reproductive function, altered neurological development, obesity, and diabetes." [12] She has also said that the traditional concept of a dose-response relationship may not always hold true and that some chemicals can have serious adverse effects at very low doses. [13] However, she has also dismissed concerns about the dangers of Styrofoam, saying that levels of styrene that leach from styrofoam containers into food "are hundreds if not thousands of times lower than have occurred in the occupational setting." [14] She has described the research about bisphenol A leaching out of plastic when the plastic is heated as "somewhat concerning", and has said that she no longer microwaves food in plastic. [15]

In 2013, Birnbaum published an article in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism which contended that diseases that are becoming more common, such as prostate cancer, must be caused by environmental factors rather than genetic ones. [16] This paper prompted two Republican congressmen, Paul Broun and Larry Bucshon, to write a letter to the National Institutes of Health in which they contended that some of her "statements sound less like a presentation of scientific data and more like an opinion." [17]

Awards and honors

Birnbaum was elected to the Institute of Medicine in October 2010, and received the Collegium Ramazzini award. She received a Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Illinois and an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Rochester, and received the Homer N. Calver Award from the American Public Health Association in 2013. [18] In 2022, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxicology</span> Study of substances harmful to living organisms

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.

Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins, are a group of long-lived polyhalogenated organic compounds that are primarily anthropogenic, and contribute toxic, persistent organic pollution in the environment.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, are a class of organobromine compounds that are used as flame retardants. Like other brominated flame retardants, PBDEs have been used in a wide array of products, including building materials, electronics, furnishings, motor vehicles, airplanes, plastics, polyurethane foams, and textiles. They are structurally akin to polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other polyhalogenated compounds, consisting of two halogenated aromatic rings. PBDEs are classified according to the average number of bromine atoms in the molecule. The life-saving benefits of fire retardants led to their popularization. Standards for mass transit vehicles continues to increase as of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flame retardant</span> Substance applied to items to slow burning or delay ignition

The term flame retardant subsumes a diverse group of chemicals that are added to manufactured materials, such as plastics and textiles, and surface finishes and coatings. Flame retardants are activated by the presence of an ignition source and prevent or slow the further development of flames by a variety of different physical and chemical mechanisms. They may be added as a copolymer during the polymerisation process, or later added to the polymer at a moulding or extrusion process or applied as a topical finish. Mineral flame retardants are typically additive, while organohalogen and organophosphorus compounds can be either reactive or additive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endocrine disruptor</span> Chemicals that can interfere with endocrine or hormonal systems

Endocrine disruptors, sometimes also referred to as hormonally active agents, endocrine disrupting chemicals, or endocrine disrupting compounds are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine systems. These disruptions can cause numerous adverse human health outcomes including, alterations in sperm quality and fertility, abnormalities in sex organs, endometriosis, early puberty, altered nervous system function, immune function, certain cancers, respiratory problems, metabolic issues, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular problems, growth, neurological and learning disabilities, and more. Found in many household and industrial products, endocrine disruptors "interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for development, behavior, fertility, and maintenance of homeostasis ."

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) conducts research into the effects of the environment on human disease, as one of the 27 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is located in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, and is the only primary division of the NIH located outside of the Washington metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rall</span> American physician

David Platt Rall was a cancer specialist and a leader in environmental health studies, whose work in environmental health helped turn it into a scientific discipline. Rall also advanced public health and prevention. He directed the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences from 1971 to 1990, year in which he retired. His work on toxicology and carcinogenesis was recognized by his appointment as the first director of the National Toxicology Program in 1978. He held the rank of Assistant Surgeon General in the United States Public Health Service. He also chaired the World Health Organization's Program on Chemical Safety.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is an inter-agency program run by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate, evaluate, and report on toxicology within public agencies.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are organobromine compounds that have an inhibitory effect on combustion chemistry and tend to reduce the flammability of products containing them. The brominated variety of commercialized chemical flame retardants comprise approximately 19.7% of the market. They are effective in plastics and textile applications like electronics, clothes, and furniture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire retardant</span> Substance reducing flammability

A fire retardant is a substance that is used to slow down or stop the spread of fire or reduce its intensity. This is commonly accomplished by chemical reactions that reduce the flammability of fuels or delay their combustion. Fire retardants may also cool the fuel through physical action or endothermic chemical reactions. Fire retardants are available as powder, to be mixed with water, as fire-fighting foams and fire-retardant gels. Fire retardants are also available as coatings or sprays to be applied to an object.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) established the NTP Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction in 1998 as an environmental health resource to the public and regulatory and health agencies. The Center provides evaluations of the potential for adverse effects on reproduction and development caused by chemicals to which humans might be exposed.

Octabromodiphenyl ether is a brominated flame retardant which belongs to the group of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds</span> Class of chemical compounds

Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. They are mostly by-products of burning or various industrial processes or, in the case of dioxin-like PCBs and PBBs, unwanted minor components of intentionally produced mixtures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin</span> Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, chemical compound

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (sometimes shortened, though inaccurately, to simply 'dioxin') with the chemical formula C12H4Cl4O2. Pure TCDD is a colorless solid with no distinguishable odor at room temperature. It is usually formed as an unwanted product in burning processes of organic materials or as a side product in organic synthesis.

Toxic equivalency factor (TEF) expresses the toxicity of dioxins, furans and PCBs in terms of the most toxic form of dioxin, 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The toxicity of the individual congeners may vary by orders of magnitude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romen Sova</span> Soviet chemist (1938–2001)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Shaw (conservationist)</span> American scientist, explorer, conservationist, author (1943–2022)

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.

The Shaw Institute, formerly the Marine & Environmental Research Institute, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit scientific research organization based in Blue Hill, Maine and New York City. The institute conducts research into ocean pollution, flame retardants, microplastics and plastic pollution, sentinel species and climate change.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bis(2-ethylhexyl)tetrabromophthalate</span> Chemical compound

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References

  1. ↑ "Linda Birnbaum Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 Director, NIEHS website
  3. ↑ "Linda Birnbaum". Environment International Website. Elsevier. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Borrell, Brendan (23 November 2012). "Chemical "Soup" Clouds Connection between Toxins and Poor Health". Scientific American . Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Linda S. Birnbaum Bio
  6. ↑ Hogue, Cheryl (2 February 2009). "New Leader Takes Over At NIEHS". Chemical & Engineering News . Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  7. ↑ Gewin, Virginia (22 January 2009). "Linda Birnbaum, director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina". Nature. 457 (7228): 502. doi: 10.1038/nj7228-502a .
  8. ↑ Woodruff, Judy (25 November 2009). "Obama to Offer 17% U.S. Emissions Cut at Copenhagen Summit". PBS. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Statement on the retirement of Dr. Linda Birnbaum". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  10. ↑ Reinberg, Steven (15 August 2007). "Chemical Flame Retardants Linked to Thyroid Disease in Cats". ABC News . Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Hamilton, Doug. "Interview--Linda Birnbaum". PBS . Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  12. ↑ Zhou, Emily (March 2012). "Webinar series addresses early-life exposures". Environmental Factor. NIEHS . Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Lane, Earl (13 June 2012). "Linda S. Birnbaum: Researchers Find New Risks in Low-Dose Chemical Exposure". American Association for the Advancement of Science . Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Marchione, Marilynn (15 June 2011). "Weighing cancer risks, from cellphones to coffee". USA Today . Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  15. ↑ Hamilton, Jon (15 April 2009). "Is 'Better Safe Than Sorry' Reason Enough For Law?". NPR. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Birnbaum, L. S. (2013). "When environmental chemicals act like uncontrolled medicine". Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism. 24 (7): 321–323. doi:10.1016/j.tem.2012.12.005. PMC   6338420 . PMID   23660158.
  17. ↑ Morris, Jim (30 July 2013). "Industry vs. government science". Salon . Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  18. ↑ Linda S. Birnbaum CV
  19. ↑ "10 NIHer's Among Newly Elected AAAS Fellows". NIH Record. 2023-03-03. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
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