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Air Toxics Science Advisory Committee

The Air Toxics Science Advisory Committee will review and provide feedback on inhalation toxicity reference values, or TRVs, proposed by DEQ. TRVs are used to assess health risk from toxic air contaminants in both the Cleaner Air Oregon and the Oregon State Air Toxics Program. The ATSAC members are appointed by the Environmental Quality Commission, and will consist of toxicologists, epidemiologists and chemists that are technically qualified and experienced in reviewing TRVs. 

Oregon Administrative Rules adopted in November 2021 updated the scope, membership requirements, and role of ATSAC in establishing TRVs for Oregon's toxic air contaminant programs. 

​​​​​​Dr John Budroe 
dr budroeDr. John Budroe is Chief of the Air Toxicology and Risk Assessment Section of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) in the California Environmental Protection Agency. He received a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Toxicology from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock AR. Dr. Budroe has 29 years of experience in performing non-cancer and cancer human health risk assessments on environmental chemicals in the California Proposition 65, Toxic Air Contaminant and Air Toxics Hot Spots programs. 



Dr. Qiaoxiang (Daisy) Dong 
daisy dongDr. Daisy Dong joined the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) in 2016. She is currently a Staff Toxicologist serving in the Risk Assessment Section of DPR's Human Health Assessment Branch. Dr. Dong is DPR's lead risk assessor for the fumigant sulfuryl fluoride and was part of the team that completed the 2018 risk assessment of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. She has primary expertise in inhalation toxicology, dosimetry modeling, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, benchmark dose analysis and dietary exposure assessment. She is also a member of the California Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program team, where she conducts health risk evaluations for exposure to pesticide residues on fresh food commodities. Dr. Dong received a BS in Biology from Zhejiang University, China and a PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Louisiana State University. She did postdoctoral work at the University of California at Davis and at the University of Texas Health Science at San Antonio. Prior to joining the Department of Pesticide Regulation, Dr. Dong was a full professor at Wenzhou Medical University, China, where she used the zebrafish and mammary stem cell models to study toxicity pathways of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), bisphenol A (BPA), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) among other prominent environmental toxicants. She is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and serves as a peer reviewer for several major toxicology journals. Her current research interests are focused on new approach methodologies in human health risk assessment. 

Dr. Jefferson Fowles
dr. fowlesDr Fowles received his PhD in Toxicology from Oregon State University in 1993. He has since worked in the U.S. a​nd internationally in public health, regulatory toxicology, and product safety for the California EPA, the New Zealand government, and chemical industry R&D in Europe. He is currently Staff Toxicologist for the California Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Investigations Branch, where he has worked on the EVALI vaping disease outbreak and other environmental contaminant investigations and risk assessments. He has 72 peer-reviewed publications. ​


Dr. John Stanek 
dr stanekDr. John Stanek is a Toxicologist with the Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment (CPHEA).  In this role, John provides scientific leadership and expertise in the area of inhalation risk assessment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and our international partners. John has served on international, agency, and interagency workgroups focused on a variety of topics including acute reference concentrations, urban air toxics, superfund guidance, hydraulic fracturing research prioritization, and the assessment of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water. He has developed assessments that provide the scientific basis that support Agency risk management actions through the Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) programs. Many of these efforts directly support CPHEA’s and the Agency’s mission, improve the state-of-the-science of risk assessment, and provide guidance and scientific support to other risk assessors, risk managers, and client program offices, which, as a result, helps to support risk decisions and regulatory recommendations on federal, state, and international levels.


Dr. Susan Tilton
dr tiltonDr. Susan Tilton is an Associate Professor and Director of Academic Programs in the Environmental and Molecular Toxicology Department at Oregon State University. Her background is in molecular and computational toxicology with expertise in the development of advanced cell culture models for toxicity testing. Her current research focuses on utilization of 3D in vitro models to improve understanding of adverse health effects in multiple organ systems, with particular focus on respiratory disease from inhaled pollutants. Dr. Tilton has a B.S in Biology from Duke University and Ph.D. in Toxicology from Oregon State University. She was previously a Senior Research Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and serves on advisory boards for the National Toxicology Program and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review in addition to review panels for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.


Dr. John J. Vandenberg
John VandenbergDr. Vandenberg is an Adjunct Professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, where he teaches air quality-related courses, and he recently served as Director of the Health and Environmental Effects Assessment Division at the US Environmental Protection Agency (retired, 2021). He has over 35 years of experience in environmental health risk assessment and was responsible for leadership, planning and oversight of EPA’s Integrated Science Assessments for the major (criteria) air pollutants and Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessments for high priority hazardous air pollutants, and for development of new risk assessment methodologies. He is a graduate of the College of Wooster, Ohio, and received his M.S. and PhD in biophysical ecology from Duke University.

​​​​DEQ will announce all ATSAC meetings including agendas and instructions to attend. All meetings will be held virtually and open to the public to listen. DEQ will post all previous meeting agendas and minutes.

The application for becoming a member of ATSAC was due at 5:00 p.m. on May 31, 2022. ​​​​​

DEQ recruited ATSAC members with expertise in toxicology and/or toxicity assessment; environmental and/or atmospheric chemistry; and epidemiology/biostatistics [OAR 340-247-0050(3)]. Once a candidate meets one of these threshold qualifications, rules direct DEQ to give consideration to experts with additional specialization in one or more the following fields: inhalation, reproductive, or developmental toxicology; multi-pathway exposure; bioaccumulation; environmental public health; neonatal and children's health; medicine; or health of vulnerable populations.

DEQ prioritized recruiting ATSAC members that are affiliated with the following authoritative sources used for Oregon DEQ's inhalation toxicity reference values listed in OAR 340-247-0030: 

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
  • United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
  • California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). 
DEQ recruited the remaining ATSAC members from the following groups: 
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences-funded academic centers​.
  • Society of Toxicology's Risk Assessment Specialty Section and Occupational and Public Health Specialty Section professional members. 
  • Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) staff. 
DE​Q seeked to incorporate anti-racism, equity, inclusion and accessibility practices into the recruitment for the ATSAC. DEQ encouraged qualified applicants who identify as black, indigenous and people of color and people with disabilities to express interest in joining the ATSAC. DEQ also encouraged qualified applicants with environmental justice or health equity expertise to express interest. 

 ATSAC members responsibilities and commitments:

  • Term length is three years [OAR 340-247-0050(5)]. 
  • DEQ expects that the ATSAC members will need to attend six to ten meetings over the three-year term to provide verbal feedback on TRV updates. For the upcoming term, DEQ expects to have two meetings in October 2022 and the rest of the meetings starting in spring 2023.  
  • DEQ will plan for each meeting to be two hours or less. 
  • All meetings will be virtual. Members must have access to a personal computer and working internet connection.  
  • DEQ expects members to attend all meetings. DEQ will work with members when scheduling to accommodate as many as possible. 
  • DEQ staff will send out meeting materials one to two weeks in advance. 
  • Members will be expected to read all the meeting materials in advance and come to the meetings prepared to discuss the materials.  
  • Members will be expected to review meeting minutes after each meeting to ensure accuracy. 
  • Approximate time commitment for preparing and attending meetings will vary depending on the meeting topics; each Committee meeting may require between four to eight hours of time in total. For the entire three-year term length, DEQ estimates that total time commitment is between 24 and 80 hours.  
  • Members are volunteers. 
  • Members are public officials. No member of ATSAC may have an actual or potential conflict of interest, as defined by Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 244.020 (1) and (13) and must otherwise comply with government ethics requirements in ORS chapter 244 [OAR 340-247-0050(6)(a)].​

DEQ must review and update the priority contaminant list and toxicity reference values (TRVs) every three years; this is called a “triennial review." DEQ and OHA staff do an in-depth review of the contaminants on the priority list and TRVs and identify changes to recommend to the Environmental Quality Commission, which has oversight responsibility for DEQ and has authority to adopt DEQ rules. The Cleaner Air Oregon rules adopted by the EQC also give an option to members of the public to submit petitions to make changes to the list and TRV. DEQ and OHA welcome petitions for consideration during the update process. Petitions were due Nov. 2, 2022 at 5:00 PM. We are no longer accepting petitions at this time. 

Learn more by visiting Petitions for DEQ Air Toxics Review web page, ​

Contact

If you have questions about ATSAC, please contact Apollonia Goeckner, 503-869-0026