Thomas F. Webster, DSc
Adjunct Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Environmental Health

DSc, Boston University School of Public Health
BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology



Tom Webster has several main research areas: 1) exposure routes and health hazards of chemicals used in consumer products, especially flame retardants, plasticizers and emerging compounds, as well as perfluoralkyl compounds (PFCs) that are also found in water; 2) health impacts of exposure to mixtures of chemicals, with applications in toxicology and epidemiology; 3) endocrine disruption; 4) methodological aspects of environmental epidemiology, particularly causal inference, ecologic bias, the use of combinations of individual and group level data, and disease mapping and clusters. Like the rest of my department, I am very interested in the community context of environmental health.

Dr. Webster served on the National Research Council’s Subcommittee on Fluoride in Drinking Water and the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Making Best Use of the Agent Orange Exposure Reconstruction Model.

The work of Dr. Webster and his colleagues and students has been featured in Environmental Health Perspectives ("PFCs and Cholesterol: A Sticky Connection," "Unwelcome Guest: PBDEs in Indoor Dust"), Bostonia Magazine ("Trouble at Home," "You Are What You Eat, Including Your Sofa"), Discovery News ("Handwashing Cuts Flame Retardant Exposure") and the National Public Radio show "Living on Earth," among other places.


The Impact of Maternal and Paternal Preconception Perfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Exposure on Reproductive and Perinatal Outcomes
05/11/2020 - 02/28/2025 (Subcontract PI)
President and Fellows of Harvard College dba Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health NIH NIEHS
5R01ES031657-02

Novel Analytical and Experimental Approaches for Predicting the Biological Effects of Mixtures
09/30/2017 - 06/30/2023 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
5R01ES027813-05

Development and Testing of Response Surface Methods for Investigating the Epidemiology of Exposure to Mixtures
02/15/2018 - 01/31/2023 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
5R01ES028800-04

Longitudinal associations of PFCs with obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome
03/01/2015 - 02/28/2021 (Subcontract PI)
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc NIH NIEHS
5R01ES024765-05

Children's Exposure to SVOC Mixtures Indoors and Associations with Obesity
07/01/2018 - 06/30/2019 (Subcontract PI)
Duke University NIH NIEHS
5R01ES016099-10

Children's Exposure to SVOC Mixtures Indoors and Associations with Obesity
07/01/2014 - 06/30/2019 (Subcontract PI)
Duke University NIH NIEHS
5R01ES016099-10

Exposure of Young Children to Residential SVOCs
09/01/2014 - 08/31/2018 (Subcontract PI)
Duke University Env Protection Agy


Measuring Human Exposure to PBDEs
07/09/2008 - 05/31/2014 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
5R01ES015829-04

SUPERFUND BASIC RESEARCH PROGRAM AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
04/01/2009 - 03/31/2013 (Co-Investigator)
PI: David M. Ozonoff, MD
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
3P42ES007381-15S5

Measuring Human Exposure to PBDEs (Administrative Supplement)
09/06/2009 - 08/31/2011 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
3R01ES015829-02S2

Showing 10 of 12 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 Toxicity of saxitoxin congener mixtures in shellfish from Southeast Alaska 1P01ES035551-01-7878
2021 Development and Testing of Response Surface Methods for Investigating the Epidemiology of Exposure to Mixtures 5R01ES028800-04 7
2021 Novel Analytical and Experimental Approaches for Predicting the Biological Effects of Mixtures 5R01ES027813-05 3
2020 Development and Testing of Response Surface Methods for Investigating the Epidemiology of Exposure to Mixtures 5R01ES028800-03 7
2020 Novel Analytical and Experimental Approaches for Predicting the Biological Effects of Mixtures 5R01ES027813-04 3
2019 Development and Testing of Response Surface Methods for Investigating the Epidemiology of Exposure to Mixtures 5R01ES028800-02 7
2019 Novel Analytical and Experimental Approaches for Predicting the Biological Effects of Mixtures 5R01ES027813-03 3
2018 Development and Testing of Response Surface Methods for Investigating the Epidemiology of Exposure to Mixtures 1R01ES028800-01 7
2018 Novel Analytical and Experimental Approaches for Predicting the Biological Effects of Mixtures 5R01ES027813-02 3
2017 Novel Analytical and Experimental Approaches for Predicting the Biological Effects of Mixtures 1R01ES027813-01A1 3
Showing 10 of 20 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Trier X, van-Leeuwen SPJ, Brambilla G, Weber R, Webster TF. The Critical Role of Commercial Analytical Reference Standards in the Control of Chemical Risks: The Case of PFAS and Ways Forward. Environ Health Perspect. 2025 Jan; 133(1):15001. PMID: 39878487; PMCID: PMC11776498; DOI: 10.1289/EHP12331;
      Article has an altmetric score of 2
  2. Ruyle BJ, Pennoyer EH, Vojta S, Becanova J, Islam M, Webster TF, Heiger-Bernays W, Lohmann R, Westerhoff P, Schaefer CE, Sunderland EM. High organofluorine concentrations in municipal wastewater affect downstream drinking water supplies for millions of Americans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jan 21; 122(3):e2417156122.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39761386; PMCID: PMC11761303; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2417156122;
      Article has an altmetric score of 491
  3. Lin PD, Cardenas A, Rokoff LB, Rifas-Shiman SL, Zhang M, Botelho J, Calafat AM, Gold DR, Zota AR, James-Todd T, Hauser R, Webster TF, Oken E, Fleisch AF. Associations of PFAS concentrations during pregnancy and midlife with bone health in midlife: Cross-sectional and prospective findings from Project Viva. Environ Int. 2024 Dec; 194:109177. PMID: 39667063; PMCID: PMC11683763; DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.109177;
     
  4. Fruh V, Babalola T, Sears C, Wellenius GA, Webster TF, Mann KK, Harrington J, Tjønneland A, Raaschou-Nielsen O, Claus Henn B, Meliker JR. Dietary Minerals and Incident Cardiovascular Outcomes among Never-Smokers in a Danish Case-Cohort Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Jul 17; 21(7).View Related Profiles. PMID: 39063508; PMCID: PMC11277515; DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21070932;
      Article has an altmetric score of 1
  5. Hoffman K, Tang X, Cooper EM, Hammel SC, Sjodin A, Phillips AL, Webster TF, Stapleton HM. Children's exposure to brominated flame retardants in the home: The TESIE study. Environ Pollut. 2024 Jul 01; 352:124110. PMID: 38723705; PMCID: PMC11170763; DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124110;
     
  6. Sen P, Fan Y, Schlezinger JJ, Ehrlich SD, Webster TF, Hyötyläinen T, Pedersen O, Orešic M. Exposure to environmental toxicants is associated with gut microbiome dysbiosis, insulin resistance and obesity. Environ Int. 2024 Apr; 186:108569.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38522229
      Article has an altmetric score of 16
  7. McGee G, Wilson A, Coull BA, Webster TF. Incorporating biological knowledge in analyses of environmental mixtures and health. Stat Med. 2023 Jul 30; 42(17):3016-3031. PMID: 37161723
      Article has an altmetric score of 2
  8. Pennoyer EH, Heiger-Bernays W, Aro R, Yeung LWY, Schlezinger JJ, Webster TF. Unknown Organofluorine Mixtures in U.S. Adult Serum:Contribution from Pharmaceuticals? Toxics. 2023 Apr 27; 11(5).View Related Profiles. PMID: 37235230; PMCID: PMC10221009; DOI: 10.3390/toxics11050416;
      Article has an altmetric score of 1
  9. Schildroth S, Friedman A, White RF, Kordas K, Placidi D, Bauer JA, Webster TF, Coull BA, Cagna G, Wright RO, Smith D, Lucchini RG, Horton M, Claus Henn B. Associations of an industry-relevant metal mixture with verbal learning and memory in Italian adolescents: The modifying role of iron status. Environ Res. 2023 May 01; 224:115457.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36773645; PMCID: PMC10117691; DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115457;
      Article has an altmetric score of 13
  10. Hammel E, Webster TF, Gurney R, Heiger-Bernays W. Implications of PFAS definitions using fluorinated pharmaceuticals. iScience. 2022 Apr 15; 25(4):104020.View Related Profiles. PMID: 35313699; PMCID: PMC8933701; DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104020;
      Article has an altmetric score of 394
Showing 10 of 189 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 188 publications over 32 distinct years, with a maximum of 16 publications in 2016

YearPublications
19861
19871
19892
19901
19911
19941
19972
19981
20023
20031
20041
20052
20062
20074
200815
20098
201014
20119
201212
20139
20147
20158
201616
201713
20189
20198
202013
202113
20222
20233
20244
20252


How the 6-Feet Rule Can Lead Us Astray

Slate 9/30/2020
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

mixtures
PFAS
PBDE
flame retardants
semivolatile organic compounds (SVOC)
causal inference
ecologic bias
spatial epidemiology
exposure
environmental epidemiology
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