Ronald A. Hites, Indiana University
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Professor Hites received a B.A. in chemistry from Oakland University (in Michigan) in 1964 and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968. Prof. Hites remained on the staff and faculty of MIT until 1979, when he became a Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs and of Chemistry at Indiana University. In 1989, he was appointed to the special rank of Distinguished Professor at IU. Professor Hites’ research focuses on the behavior of potentially toxic organic compounds in the environment. He has published six books and over 400 scientific papers, and he has supervised about 70 post-doctoral associates and graduate students. Professor Hites is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the winner of the 1993 Founders Award from the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and of the 1991 American Chemical Society Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. He was President of the International Association for Great Lakes Research from 2008-2009. He has been an Associate Editor of Environmental Science and Technology since 1990. |
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New, Newer, and Newest Flame Retardants in the Environment Since 1998, interest among environmental scientists and toxicologists in flame retardants has increased exponentially, but almost all of this interest has focused on the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Perhaps as a result of this attention, the flame retardant industry will abandon the production and sale of PBDEs and turn their attention to brominated and chlorinated replacement chemicals. These compounds include single ring aromatic compounds (such as hexabromobenzene), two ring highly brominated compounds (such as decabromodiphenylethane), aromatic esters (such as tetrabromo dioctylphthalate), and chlorinated compounds based on Diels Alder reactions of hexachlorocyclopentadiene. This lecture will review the environmental presence of these and related compounds. |