Charles J. Weschler is a Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at UMDNJ/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, a member of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (jointly sponsored by UMDNJ & Rutgers University) and has been an ongoing visiting professor at the International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Technical University of Denmark since 2001. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1974, was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. F. Basolo at Northwestern University, and joined Bell Laboratories in 1975. He was a research scientist in the former Bell System Laboratories (Bell Labs/Bellcore/Telcordia Technologies) before joining the faculties of UMDNJ/Rutgers and the Technical University of Denmark in 2001. He has published almost a hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals (h-index = 34) and is on the editorial advisory boards of both Atmospheric Environment and Indoor Air. He is Chair of the Science Advisory Board for an NSF Center at University of Texas, Austin and has served on four committees for the National Academy of Sciences.

Vinyl flooring, nylon carpets, foam cushioning, plywood, scented products, permanent press fabrics, computers…  Plasticizers, flame-retardants, stain- repellants, anti-oxidants, pesticides, fungicides…  Many of the chemicals present in today’s indoor environments were not present fifty years ago. Additionally, buildings are constructed and operated differently, including the increasing use of air-conditioning. Taken together, such changes, which have occurred in China as well as the United States, have meaningfully altered the chemicals that we breathe, ingest or absorb through our skin. These chemicals are now in our blood and their metabolites are in our urine. We know why we use these chemicals -- to make our plastics flexible, to reduce the risk of fire, to kill termites, cockroaches and other pests, to prevent mold growth, to help our paint spread easier, to repel dirt and stains. However, the long-term health effects of many of these chemicals, including their potential for endocrine disruption, remain unknown.