Karen Weathercock
Karen Wetterhahn (born October 16, 1948 in Plattsburgh , New York , † June 8, 1997 in Lyme , New Hampshire ) was an American chemist .
Life
Wetterhahn was a professor at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire . Her specialty was the toxicity of metals , promoting collaboration between biologists, chemists, environmental researchers, technicians and medical professionals. In 1981 she received a research grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation ( Sloan Research Fellowship ). While studying the disease-causing effects of molecules at the cellular level, she suffered an industrial accident on August 14, 1996 in the laboratory in which dimethylmercury diffused through her latex gloves within a few seconds and was absorbed by the skin . Months later, from January 1997, dizziness and headaches occurred. The concentration of mercury in her blood was eighty times the toxic threshold . In spite of chelation therapy , she fell into a coma in early February 1997 and died after four months on June 8, 1997 of acute mercury poisoning .
As a result of this event, the use of dimethylmercury as the standard in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was discontinued and the safety data sheets were updated.
On the occasion of Karen Wetterhahn's death, Dartmouth College donated the Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award , which has been presented annually to young women scientists since 1998.
Private
Wetterhahn was married and had a son and a daughter.
swell
- Dartmouth College: Karen Wetterhahn , accessed September 18, 2012
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences page about the award , accessed July 11, 2009
Individual evidence
- ^ Past Fellows. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, accessed July 13, 2019 .
- ^ The dangers of dimethylmercury , chemistryworld.com, February 19, 2019
- ↑ Scientist's Death Helped Increase Knowledge of Mercury Poisoning , LA Times , September 14, 1997
- ↑ EULOGY FOR KAREN WETTERHAHN
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weathercock, Karen |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 16, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Plattsburgh , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 8, 1997 |
| Place of death | Lyme , New Hampshire |