Dennis Paustenbach

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Dennis C. Paustenbach, Ph.D., C.I.H., DABT, is a toxicology expert, who has done extensive work for industry in the field of risk assessment. He is the president and founder of ChemRisk, "a consulting firm providing state-of-the-art toxicology, industrial hygiene, epidemiology, and risk assessment services to organizations that confront public health, occupational health, and environmental challenges."

He was previously a vice-president at Exponent, a publicly traded consulting firm of nearly 600 engineers and scientists. According to his ChemRisk biography, "his experience includes investigating the health effects of exposure to, as well as the remediation of, carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic chemicals, including dioxins, benzenes, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), petroleum products, methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), asbestos, glycol ethers, chlorinated hydrocarbons, beryllium, lead, methylene chloride, 1,3-butadiene, tetrachloroethylene (PCE), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and chromium."[1]

Paustenbach was appointed by the Bush administration to CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, an advisory committee which reviews research and makes suggestions on a range of public health policy issues.

In March 2003, Paustenbach began publishing the Journal of Children's Health. Until recently this journal included corporate lawyers on its editorial board; it still includes a number of corporate consultants.

According to the Washington Post, Paustenbach served as an expert witness for Pacific Gas and Electric when the utility was sued for allowing poisonous chromium to leach into groundwater. The case was made famous in the movie "Erin Brockovich." [2] According to the LA Times, Paustenbach earned more than $300 an hour working as an expert for PG&E.

Paustenbach has also serviced a member of the Alcoa Environmental Technology Board of Directors (ETAB) (1993-1996) and the Savannah River Environmental Board of Directors (1997-2001).

Academic Background

  • Ph.D., Environmental Toxicology, Purdue University, 1982
  • M.S., Industrial Hygiene, University of Michigan, 1977
  • M.S., Counseling Psychology, Indiana State University, (at night), 1978
  • BSChE, Chemical Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 1974
    • Post-Doctoral Research (in absentia), Pharmacokinetics, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio; 1985-1987 (Dr. Melvin Andersen, collaborator).
    • Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health; Center for Risk Analysis; Boston, MA. A one-year appointment (June, 1996-June, 1997) which included 10 weeks in residence at the college. Worked with Dr. John Graham. [3]

Industry Consulting

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Paustenbach has served as a consultant to the following:

External links

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