ACS Award For Creative Advances In Environmental Science & Technology

Sponsored by the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry and the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology

When regulators want to gauge the risk to human health of burning oil slicks, hazardous waste incineration, and other sources of combustion-generated pollutants, they often turn to scientific knowledge developed by Harold B. (Barry) Dellinger, the Patrick F. Taylor Professor of Environmental Chemistry at Louisiana State University.

Dellinger’s work resides at a critical interface between engineering and biomedical research. His knowledge in this field as well as his dissemination of his findings in a way that is useful to regulators and industry has earned him this award.

Among his activities in the field of environmental chemistry, Dellinger developed the incinerability ranking, which is used by regulatory agencies and industry to assess the conditions necessary to destroy chemicals by incineration. This ranking was developed using a combination of carefully designed experiments and kinetic calculations. Today, the ranking contains more than 300 toxic chemicals. It is used every time a company applies for a permit in the U.S. to operate an incinerator, boiler, or kiln to burn hazardous waste. It is also the basis for regulations in Europe and Japan.

Using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to study pollutant particles produced through combustion, Dellinger discovered that persistent, combustion-generated radicals are present on samples of the fine, airborne particles known as PM2.5.

“Using cellular assays, radical scavenging techniques, and metal chelators, we have demonstrated that, when inhaled, the radicals on these particles generated reactive oxygen species that result in DNA strand breakage,” he says. “These nicks to DNA can result in development of various cancers and cardiovascular disease. In collaboration with the biomedical and engineering communities, we are working to determine the actual mechanism of biological activity, the source of these radicals, and their atmospheric chemistry.”

Dellinger has “an enviable reputation” in the field, states Joseph S. Francisco, a chemistry professor at Purdue University. “His contributions provide a rich resource to the scientific, engineering, and health communities and have been used to solve societal problems,” he adds.

In recent years, Dellinger has determined the mechanism of formation for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F), but his work has also covered polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic compounds, and sulfuric aerosols. Although he initially investigated the homogenous paths to PCDD/F, he has more recently emphasized the importance of heterogeneous paths.

“His current work on metallic catalysts such as copper compounds, for such formation, as well as for dechlorination, is important in this context,” says Arthur Fontijn, an emeritus professor in the department of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Fontijn notes that Dellinger is also a talented teacher. “In his current chaired professorship at LSU, he has created an environment that is putting out good young investigators into the environmental area,” he says.

According to Isiah M. Warner, a chemistry professor at LSU, Dellinger is that rare breed of scientist “who directs scientific research at the highest level of chemical sophistication, but also communicates well with regulatory, engineering, health, and lay communities through written and oral communications.”

Dellinger will present his award address before the Division of Environmental Chemistry.