Regulations into the Origins of PFAS Should be Next Step for New Standards

Newswise — Jaymie R. Meliker, PhD, is a Professor of Public Health and Family, Population, & Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University. Dr. Meliker earned his PhD and MS in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and his BA in Neuroscience from Oberlin College. He served as a member of USEPA’s Chemical Safety Advisory Committee, and as an ad-hoc member of USEPA’s Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals, and brings expertise in the risk assessment of drinking water and other contaminants. 

Jaymie R. Meliker, PhD, Professor of Public Health and Family, Population & Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University, can discuss the issue of dangerous “forever chemicals,” widely called PFAS, found in drinking water, and the new national standard to limit these chemicals in our drinking water supplies.

Dr. Meliker believes these regulations are a significant step, but that regulations into the origins of PFAS and other contaminants should receive greater consideration and discussion. Currently, he says, we are playing catch-up after the contaminants are released into the environment, rather than working to prevent our exposure in the first place. And companies that make products such as PFAS are not required to show that they don’t cause risk, or will not bioaccumulate.

His research contributes to the fields of exposure science and environmental epidemiology. He focuses on how chemicals (including PFAS) and other environmental exposures  may cause damage to people by:  (1) identifying environmental factors that play important roles in disease morbidity, and (2) developing methods that improve researchers’ ability to investigate exposure-disease relationships.

Dr. Meliker is available for TV, radio, and print/web media sourcess To schedule an interview with Dr. Meliker, please reach out to Greg Filiano at [email protected] or 631.338.7644.