Special Interview with Prof. Heather M. Stapleton - Four-time Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher
On June 23, 2026, the Editorial Office of Journal of Environmental Exposure Assessment (JEEA) conducted an interview with Prof. Heather M. Stapleton, Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor at Duke University, USA. The interview was led by Dr. Suzhen Cao from the University of Science and Technology Beijing, China.
Prof. Stapleton is a leading exposure scientist and environmental analytical chemist whose research focuses on human exposure to environmental contaminants, particularly halogenated compounds and chemicals in consumer products. She is widely known for developing silicone wristbands as wearable tools for personal exposure assessment and for her contributions to targeted and non-targeted mass spectrometry in environmental health research.
During the interview, Prof. Stapleton highlighted the importance of integrating personal exposure monitoring with exposomics and omics technologies to better understand complex chemical mixtures and their health impacts. She emphasized that wearable sampling tools can capture real-world exposure across multiple environments, providing a more complete picture than traditional monitoring approaches.
She also discussed the value of non-targeted analysis in identifying emerging contaminants and chemical substitutes in indoor environments and building materials. In addition, she stressed the importance of linking external exposure, internal dose, and biological responses to better understand exposure–health relationships, particularly for vulnerable populations.
As Director of the Duke Superfund Research Center, Prof. Stapleton further noted that exposure science plays a central role in environmental risk assessment, contaminated site management, and public health decision-making. Looking ahead, she expects exposomics and wearable exposure technologies to become increasingly important in advancing environmental health research and risk assessment frameworks.
Watch the video below for Prof. Heather Stapleton's expert insights:
Interview Questions:
Q1. Could you please briefly introduce the research work of your research group?
Q2. Your group identifies halogenated and organophosphate pollutants from indoor products and quantifies internal & external exposure via targeted/untargeted mass spectrometry. When collaborating with metabolome and exposome teams, how do your paired exposure data strengthen exposure-health links with omics evidence? Could you share relevant research examples?
Q3. What approaches do you use to quantify links between indoor external exposure and human internal doses? How does such paired data combine with omics to overcome limitations of standalone exposure monitoring for mechanistic health research?
Q4. Multi‑omics reveals toxic molecular pathways of pollutants. With your comprehensive internal/external exposure datasets, what major bottlenecks in exposure science can be addressed through cross-team omics collaboration?
Q5. Compared with traditional targeted analysis, what key strengths does untargeted MS have in discovering novel halogenated and organophosphate contaminants in construction materials? How are the resulting high-dimensional exposure data translated into health risk indicators for vulnerable pregnant women and children?
Q6. What are the limitations and practical challenges of using silicone wristbands as wearable exposure monitoring tools? Furthermore, how can we distinguish and quantify the contributions of different exposure sources, such as ambient air, water, indoor environments, and consumer products, to external and internal exposure to organic contaminants?
Q7. As director of Duke Superfund Research Center, what roles does exposure assessment play in contaminated site management, public health policymaking and population intervention? How will its research focus and practical applications evolve over the next 5–10 years?
Q8. Given the complexity of real-world mixed exposure to emerging contaminants such as PFAS, pesticides, and other unregulated chemicals in both residential and occupational environments, which exposure pathways or sources should be prioritized for controlling population-level health risks?
Interviewee Profile:
Prof. Heather M. Stapleton is the Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor at Duke University, USA, and a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. Her research focuses on exposure science, environmental analytical chemistry, and human exposure to environmental contaminants. She is internationally recognized for her work on silicone wristbands as personal exposure samplers and for her contributions to targeted and non-targeted mass spectrometry in environmental health. Her research has advanced understanding of PFAS, flame retardants, and other emerging contaminants in indoor environments. She is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Environment.
Interviewer Profile:
Dr. Suzhen Cao is an Associate Professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. Her research focuses on human exposure assessment, environmental health risk assessment, and exposure source apportionment, with particular emphasis on heavy metals and atmospheric pollutants.
Editor: Yanan Duan
Production Editor: Ting Xu
Respectfully Submitted by the Editorial Office of Journal of Environmental Exposure Assessment
