Laurel Schaider, PhD
Dr. Laurel Schaider is a Senior Scientist at Silent Spring Institute, where she leads the Institute’s water quality research on highly fluorinated chemicals (PFAS) and other contaminants of emerging concern. Her research focuses on characterizing PFAS exposures from drinking water, understanding health effects associated with PFAS, identifying other sources of PFAS exposure such as food packaging, investigating socioeconomic disparities in exposures to drinking water contaminants, and working with communities to develop research studies and resources to address their concerns.
Dr. Schaider is the principal investigator for the PFAS-REACH (PFAS Research, Education, and Action for Community Health) study, a researcher-community partnership that is evaluating PFAS exposures and immune system effects in children in communities with PFAS water contamination and developing an online resource center for PFAS-affected communities. As co-leader of the Community Engagement Core for the STEEP (Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFAS) Superfund Research Program at the University of Rhode Island, she is leading a study to evaluate PFAS levels in private wells on Cape Cod and identify contamination sources. She was the lead author of two papers documenting septic systems as sources of PFAS and other emerging contaminants to public and private drinking water wells, and led a critical review of removal and discharges of emerging contaminants from septic systems, which treat the wastewater of nearly one in four Americans.
Prior to joining Silent Spring, she was a research associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she studied heavy metal contamination and exposures in affected communities. She led an NIEHS-funded community-based research study in northeastern Oklahoma that found consumption of local fish to be a major source of mercury exposure among anglers and their families, including members of local Native American tribes. As a research fellow in the Center for Children’s Environmental Health project at the Tar Creek Superfund Site in Oklahoma, she was lead author on two papers that linked metal speciation—how metals are distributed among various chemical forms—to mobility in the environment and likelihood of exposure, notably in mine waste particles small enough to be inhaled. In addition, Dr. Schaider co-authored two papers that evaluated impacts from nutrient pollution and physical disturbance on mercury methylation in the “Dead Zone” of the Gulf of Mexico.
Dr. Schaider has gained nationwide recognition as an expert on PFAS contamination and water quality and has been interviewed by National Public Radio, The Washington Post, The Dr. Oz Show, Chemical & Engineering News, Environmental Health News, and many local news outlets. She is a technical advisor to ATSDR’s Community Assistance Panel at the Pease Tradeport and is vice-chair of the Contaminants of Emerging Concern committee for the New England Water Environment Association. Dr. Schaider earned her MS and PhD in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and an SB in Environmental Engineering Science from MIT. She has taught ecology and environmental engineering courses at MIT and Northeastern University. She currently holds an appointment as a visiting scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Projects
Publications & Presentations
Levin, R., C.M. Villanueva, D. Beene, A.L. Cradock, C. Donat-Vargas, J. Lewis, I. Martinez-Morata, D. Minovi, A.E. Nigra, E.D. Olson, L.A. Schaider, M..H. Ward, N.C. Deziel. 2023. US drinking water quality: exposure risk profiles for seven legacy and emerging contaminants. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-023-00597-z.
Liddie, J.M., L.A. Schaider, E.M. Sunderland. 2023. Sociodemographic Factors Are Associated with the Abundance of PFAS Sources and Detection in U.S. Community Water Systems. Environmental Science & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c07255
Rodgers, K.M., C.H. Swartz, J. Occhialini, P. Bassignani, M. McCurdy, L.A. Schaider. 2022. How well do product labels indicate the presence of PFAS in consumer items used by children and adolescents? Environmental Science & Technology. 56 (10), 6294-6304. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.1c05175
Susmann, H.P., L.A. Schaider, K.M. Rodgers, R.A. Rudel. 2019. Dietary Habits Related to Food Packaging and Population Exposure to PFASs, Environmental Health Perspectives. 127 (10). doi: 10.1289/EHP4092
Schaider, L.A., L.R. Swetschinski, C. Campbell, R.A. Rudel. 2019. Environmental justice and drinking water quality: are there socioeconomic disparities in nitrate levels in U.S. drinking water? Environmental Health. 8(3). doi: 10.1186/s12940-018-0442-6
Boronow, K.E., J.G. Brody, L.A. Schaider, G.F. Peaslee, L. Havas, B.A. Cohn. 2019. Serum concentrations of PFASs and exposure-related behaviors in African American and non-Hispanic white women. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. 29, 206–217. doi: 10.1038/s41370-018-0109-y
Cordner, A., V.Y. De La Rosa, L.A Schaider, R.A. Rudel, L. Richter, P. Brown. 2019. Guideline Levels for PFOA and PFOS in Drinking Water: The Role of Scientific Uncertainty, Risk Assessment Decisions, and Social Factors. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. 29, 157–171. doi: 10.1038/s41370-018-0099-9
Schaider L.A., K.M. Rodgers, R.A. Rudel. 2017. Review of Organic Wastewater Compound Concentrations and Removal in Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(13):7304–7317. doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b04778
Schaider, L.A., S.A. Balan, A. Blum, D.Q. Andrews, M.J. Strynar, M.E. Dickinson, D.M. Lunderberg, J.R. Lang, G.F. Peaslee. 2017. Fluorinated Compounds in U.S. Fast Food Packaging. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 4(3):105–111. doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00435.
Hu X.C., D. Andrews, A.B. Lindstrom, T.A. Bruton, L.A. Schaider, P. Grandjean, R. Lohmann, C.C. Carignan, A. Blum, S.A. Balan, C.P. Higgins, E.M. Sunderland. 2016. Detection of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in U.S. drinking water linked to industrial sites, military fire training areas and wastewater treatment plants. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 3(10):344–350. doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00260
Schaider, L. Septic systems as sources of pharmaceuticals, fluorinated chemicals, and other emerging contaminants in private wells on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. CDC Private Well Community of Practice Webinar. March 16, 2016.
Schaider, L.A., J.M. Ackerman, R.A. Rudel. 2016. Septic systems as sources of organic wastewater compounds in domestic drinking water wells in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer. Science of the Total Environment, 547:470-481. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.081
Schaider, L. Fluorinated Chemicals in Consumer Products and Drinking Water: Health Concerns and Tips to Reduce Your Exposure. Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition. February 25, 2016.
Schaider L.A., R.A. Rudel, J.M. Ackerman, S. Dunagan, J.G. Brody. 2014. Pharmaceuticals, Perfluorosurfactants, and Other Organic Wastewater Compounds in Public Drinking Water Wells in a Shallow Sand and Gravel Aquifer. Science of the Total Environment, 468–469:384-393. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.08.067