Richard C. Pleus

Biography

Richard C. Pleus, PhD serves as the Managing Director and Director of Intertox, Inc. Mr. Pleus is responsible for Project Highlights, Advisory Positions, Conferences and Symposiums and Expert Peer Review Panels. He has 25 years experience in human health risk assessments. He is also Expert in Human Health Risk Assessment; General Toxicology; Respiratory Toxicology; Reproductive/ Developmental, Endocrinological, and Neurological Toxicology and Pharmacology; Risk Communication. He has a proven ability to communicate risks of toxicants to a variety of audiences-skillfully facilitating both public forums and industry meetings, in litigation support, on expert panels, and as an expert witness. Dr. Pleus' research focuses on human health risk, including mode-of-action studies aimed at quantifying exposure to critical organ systems, with particular interest in human and laboratory animal nervous system development. His recent work has been focused primarily on emerging contaminants, especially in water, such as endocrine disruptors, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. Dr. Pleus focuses his work on the application of academic research results to protect human health and resolve public health issues. He has presented the results of his research at national and international meetings in Australia, France, South Africa, and the Czech Republic. Dr. Pleus' contribution to peer reviewed journals and books include his work regarding perchlorate, published in Environmental Health Perspectives and his chapter contribution, Perchlorate Regulation and Regulatory Activity (Chapter IX) to GFS Chemicals book Perchloric Acid and Perchlorate. He has also contributed chapters to Biological Risk Engineering Handbook: Infection Control and Decontamination (Lewis Publishers), chapter 4, Toxicology, and chapter 5, Risk Assessment. Dr. Pleus has served as an expert on a U.S. EPA scientific advisory panel to review human health risks related to pesticide exposures and as an expert on two peer review panels assessing the human health risks of resorcinol. He served as a stakeholder advisory committee ember for the WateReuse Foundation, to review the development of indicators and surrogates for chemical contaminant removal during wastewater treatment and reclamation. Dr. Pleus's focus is on developing environmental health and safety (EHS) standards for nanomaterials and assisting in the evaluation of EHS risks from exposure to engineered nanoparticles. His evaluation of EHS is made possible through his participation as a U.S. delegate on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 229, Nanotechnologies. Dr. Pleus is leading the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Working Group 3 to develop a comprehensive list of physical and chemical characterization parameters of engineered nano-objects for toxicologic assessment. Dr. Pleus co-founded the Nanotechnology Health and Safety Forum. Held in June 2009, the forum focused on the science of nanotechnology, government regulations, insurance and risk management, as well as the roles of corporations and non-profit organizations as related to the future of nanotechnology. Dr. Pleus was asked to serve on the review panel for NIOSH intramural proposals for the NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center, and served as co-chair for the In Vitro Plenary of the National Nanotechnology Initiative Workshop “Nanomaterials and Human Health & Instrumentation, Metrology, an Analytical Methods.” He was recently invited to speak at the Bureau International de Poids edt Mesures (BIPM) Workshop on “Metrology at the Nanoscale,” presenting on the importance of defining chemical and physical parameters for toxicological testing. Dr. Pleus served as an Instructor for 10 years at the University of Minnesota where he taught human science classes for both lower and upper level undergraduate students. In addition, he taught courses in physiological psychology and psychopharmacology for Metropolitan State University. He is an adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as well as a faculty member of the Center for Environmental Toxicology at the University of Nebraska. He is an elected member of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. He has a Postdoctoral Training at University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1992 majored in Neuropharmacology, Ph.D. from University of Minnesota in 1991 majored in Environmental Toxicology. He has M.S., from University of Minnesota in 1983 majored in Environmental Health and B.S., from Michigan State University in 1977 majored in Physiology, Honors Graduate.

Research Interest

General Toxicology; Respiratory Toxicology; Reproductive/ Developmental, Endocrinological, and Neurological Toxicology and Pharmacology