- Phone:
- (812) 855-1005
- Email:
- mvenier@indiana.edu
- Research areas:
- Atmospheric Chemistry
- Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
- Areas of Interest:
- Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
- Great Lakes
MSBII 324
Education
- Ph.D., Indiana University O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 2008
- Laurea in Chemistry, University of Trieste, Italy, 2002
Courses
- E-183 Environment and People
- E-537 Environmental Chemistry Laboratory
Biography
Dr. Marta Venier is an environmental chemist who studies the fate, transport, and behavior of persistent organic pollutants in the indoor and outdoor environment, including both legacy and emerging pollutants. She is particularly interested in persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, perfluorinated compounds (PFAS), and flame retardants, both brominated and organophosphate esters.
Her laboratory employs analytical chemistry and mass spectrometry techniques to provide analyses of POPs and organic toxic chemicals in indoor/outdoor air, water, sediments, soil, biological samples (i.e. serum, urine, feces) and consumer products.
Since November 2019, she has been leading the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN), a monitoring program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. IADN measures concentrations of persistent toxic chemicals in air and precipitation at five stations on each of the Great Lakes. The main objectives of IADN are to determine spatial and temporal trends of toxic chemicals, identify point or regional sources of toxic chemicals, and discover emerging chemical threats to the Great Lakes.
Born and raised in Trieste, Italy, where she earned her laurea degree, Venier arrived in Bloomington in 2004 to pursue her Ph.D. in environmental science. After completing her doctorate, Venier continued working in O'Neill professor Ron Hites's laboratory, first as a postdoctoral associate and then as assistant scientist. In 2019, she was promoted to associate scientist.
Venier and her group have been published in highly ranked peer-reviewed journals like Environmental Science and Technology and Environment International. Her research has garnered national and international attention.
Highlights
- Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) award, EPA, PI, $6M, 2019-24
- “Chemical Evaluations of Great Lakes Fish-eating Birds in Michigan's Areas of Concern”. US Fish and Wildlife Services. Funding period: 08/01/2021-07/31/2022. Total awarded: $ 193,615. Role: Principal Investigator.
In the News
- “Mask Research / Toxic Cosmetics / Great Resignation” – All IN, WFYI, August 26, 2021
- “New flame retardants just as toxic to humans as old ones, but found at even higher levels: The study” - Community Press Canada and Archynewsy, both October 22, 2019
- “Indiana University researchers monitor airborne pollution in Great Lakes Northeast” - Indiana Public Radio, October 1, 2019; Indiana Environmental Reporter and Pollution Online, both October 3, 2019
- “EPA awards nearly $6M to IU” - Inside INdiana Business, September 30, 2019; WISH-IN and WIBC-FM. both October 1, 2019
- “EPA awards nearly $6 million to Indiana University to monitor airborne pollution in the Great Lakes” _ News at IU Bloomington Newsroom and Environmental Protection Agency, both September 26, 2019 and WISH-TV September 30, 2019
- “Toxic flame retardants found in newly manufactured children's car seats” - Natural News June 11, 2019
- “Toxins from furniture and flooring found to linger in children's systems” - Consumer Affairs, February 18, 2019
Selected Works
- “Fluorinated Compounds in North American Cosmetics,” (with Whitehead, H. D.; Wu, Y.; Eastman, E.; Urbanik, S.; Diamond, M. L.; Shalin, A.; Schwartz-Narbonne, H.; Bruton, T. A.; Blum, A.; Wang, Z.; Green, M.; Tighe, M.; Wilkinson, J. T.; McGuinness, S.; Peaslee, G. F.), Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 8 (7) 538-544, (2021)
- "Scientific Basis for Managing PFAS as a Chemical Class,"(with C.F. Kwiatkowski, D.Q. Andrews, L.S. Birnbaum et al.), (ranked among the top five papers of 2020 in) Environmental Science Technology Letters, 7 (8) 532-43 (June 30, 2020)
- “The use of silicone wristbands to evaluate personal exposure to semi-volatile organic chemicals (SVOCs) in France and Italy,” (with Wang, S., Romanak, K.A., Tarallo, S., Francavilla, A., Viviani, M., Vineis, P., Rothwell, J.A., Mancini, F.R., Cordero, F., Naccarati, A., Severi, G.), Environmental Pollution, 115490 (2020)
- “Feces are effective biological samples for measuring pesticides and flame retardants in primates,” (with Wang, S., Steineche, T., Rothman, J. M., Wrangham, R., Chapman, C., Mutegeki, Richard; Quiros, R., Wasserman, M. D.), Environmental Science and Technology, 54 (19) 12013–12023 (2020)
- “Novel and legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in bald eagle eggs from the Great Lakes region,” (with Y. Wu, K. Simon, D. Best, W. Bowerman), Environmental Pollution, (December 2019)
- “The occurrence, spatial and seasonal variations, and gas-particle partitioning of atmospheric current use pesticides (CUPs) in the Great Lake basin,” (with Wang, S. Salamova, A), Environmental Science Technology, 55 (6) 3539–3548, (2021)
- “Silicone wristbands integrate dermal and inhalation exposures to semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs),” (with S. Wang, K.A. Romanak, W.A. Stubbings, V.H. Arrandale, M. Hendryx, M. L. Diamond, A. Salamova) Environment International, Vol. 132, (November 2019)
- “Atmospheric occurrence of legacy pesticides, current use pesticides, and flame retardants in and around protected areas in Costa Rica and Uganda,” (S. Wang, T. Steiniche, K.A. Romanek, E. Johnson, R. Quiros, R. Mutegeki, M.D. Wasserman), Environ. Sci. Technol, 53 (11) 6171-6181, (May 13, 2019)
- “Flame retardants and plasticizers in a Canadian waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) dismantling facility,” (with W.A. Stubbings, L. V. Nguyen, K. Romanak, L. Jantunen, L. Melymuk, V. Arrandale, M.L. Diamond), Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 675, 594-603, (July 20, 2019)
