Meet the Scientists

Dr. Pat Rasmussen: Studying Children's Exposure to Metals

Dr. Pat Rasmussen, a research scientist at Health Canada's Safe Environments Programme, studies childhood exposure to metals in air and in dust.

"If we know the amount of metals that can get into the body and how the metals get there, we can better assess the effects of exposure to air pollutants", said Dr. Rasmussen. "Ultimately, this will help us to protect the health of Canadians."

One of her current projects is the development of methods to measure the levels of selected indoor contaminants in children's homes. She and her colleagues have addressed the lack of information on the basic makeup of household dust in Canadian cities by conducting surveys of household vacuum dust, garden soil and street dust in Ottawa over the past ten years.

Surveys of metals in household dust are particularly important to the health of Canadian preschoolers who take in household dust through repeated hand-to-mouth activities. The ingestion of dust and soil is considered the largest contributor of childhood exposure to lead-based paint, leaded gasoline and other metals from traffic and urban industrial sources. Because older infants and toddlers spend much of their time indoors, information on the chemical makeup of common household dust is important to correctly estimate childhood exposures.

To further her studies in the potential health effects of metals in airborne dust, Dr. Rasmussen was awarded $63,000 in the Innovative Science Competition held by the Office of the Chief Scientist in 2002. Shortly after this, she was awarded $100,000 by the Department of National Defence to design and build a Gravimetric Analysis Facility for the accurate measurement of airborne particulate matter collected using personal and environmental samplers. This facility is now fully operational, and Dr. Rasmussen and her colleagues have applied for a patent for their invention.

In addition to her research on indoor contaminants, she has developed methods for the measurement of atmospheric mercury emissions, and for monitoring arsenic exposures using human tissues, including skin, hair and nails.

Dr. Rasmussen chose a career at Health Canada because it allows her to conduct relevant and timely research that relates directly to the environmental health and safety concerns of Canadians. She publishes her research results in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, but above all, she finds it most satisfying to see her scientific contributions being incorporated into decisions made by her colleagues in the policy and regulatory parts of the organization.

Dr. Rasmussen is committed to training future generations of Health Canada scientists. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa since 1997, and played the same role at the University of Guelph, School of Engineering, for four years. Her interaction with university students has given her the opportunity to mentor and recruit highly qualified young Canadians into the organization.

Her other professional activities have included being a member of the Toxic Substances Research Initiative (TSRI), Technical Review Committee of Metals and Associate Editor of Geoscience Canada. The latter is the Geological Association of Canada's main publication.

Dr. Rasmussen received her PhD in the Faculty of Science at the University of Waterloo in 1993. Before coming to Health Canada in 1998, she worked in a variety of places. She was a research scientist in the Earth Sciences Sector at Natural Resources Canada, and an Environmental Geochemist in the Ontario Hydro Research Department in Mississauga and at the Ontario Ministry of Environment in Dorset.