Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD
Emeritus Clinical Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Environmental Health

PhD, University of Nebraska
BS, University of Connecticut



Wendy Heiger-Bernays is emerita clinical professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the BU School of Public Health. She continues to apply her training in molecular toxicology to practical questions about the impact of industrial chemicals, consumer products and pharmaceuticals in water and waste streams on people’s health.

Dr. Heiger-Bernays' work focuses on technology and information transfer of the science to multiple audiences, including environmental regulatory and health agencies as well as with advocacy groups and community groups. Heiger-Bernays’ overall objective is to engage communities in their understanding and mitigation of environmental health risks.

She currently serves as a member of the USEPA Science Advisory Board, the Science Advisory Board for the Toxics Use Reduction Institute and is Chair of her local board of health. In 2015-2016, she was a AAAS Science and Technology Fellow hosted in the Office of Science Coordination and Policy at the US EPA, working in the Endocrine Disrupting Screening Program.


Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health
04/15/2024 - 03/31/2029 (Subcontract PI)
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution National Science Fdn
OCE-2418297

AAAS Fellowship
09/01/2015 - 08/31/2016 (PI)
American Association for the Advancement of Science


Hair Care Products: A Survey of Toxicological Assessment. A Community-Based Project In Support of ACE and Roxbury Hair Salons
05/01/1999 - 04/30/2000 (PI)
DHHS PHS (Public Health Contracts)



Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs

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. Pennoyer EH, Fillman T, Heiger-Bernays W, Attfield KR, Baek HG, Gao S, Smith S, Park JS, Wu N, Webster TF. Exposure to Legacy Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Diet and Drinking Water in California Adults, 2018-2020. Environ Sci Technol. 2025 May 14.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40365998
      Article has an altmetric score of 77
  2. Ianniello CF, Beery G, Chen TD, Deyle E, Heiger-Bernays W, Motter I, McAlister JS, Rotjan RD. Stress in the City: Disentangling multi-stressor effects on an urbanized coral in a changing ocean. Mar Pollut Bull. 2025 Jul; 216:117918. PMID: 40215950
     
  3. Schlezinger JJ, Bello A, Mangano KM, Biswas K, Patel PP, Pennoyer EH, Wolever TMS, Heiger-Bernays WJ, Bello D. Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in circulation in a Canadian population: their association with serum-liver enzyme biomarkers and piloting a novel method to reduce serum-PFAS. Environ Health. 2025 Mar 15; 24(1):10.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40089764; PMCID: PMC11909942; DOI: 10.1186/s12940-025-01165-8;
      Article has an altmetric score of 122
  4. Nielsen G, Gondim DD, Cave MC, Heiger-Bernays WJ, Webster TF, Schlezinger JJ. Perfluorooctanoic acid increases serum cholesterol in a PPARa-dependent manner in female mice. Arch Toxicol. 2025 May; 99(5):2087-2105.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40021516
      Article has an altmetric score of 8
  5. 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 486
  6. Schlezinger JJ, Biswas K, Garcia A, Heiger-Bernays WJ, Bello D. An oat fiber intervention for reducing PFAS body burden: A pilot study in male C57Bl/6 J mice. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2025 Feb; 495:117188.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39647509; PMCID: PMC11798698; DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2024.117188;
      Article has an altmetric score of 37
  7. Wu P, Foley C, Heiger-Bernays W, Chen C. Chemical mixtures of mercury, PCBs, PFAS, and pesticides in freshwater fish in the US and the risks they pose for fish consumption. Environ Res. 2025 Feb 01; 266:120381. PMID: 39577725; PMCID: PMC11753927; DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120381;
      Article has an altmetric score of 1
  8. Haley BM, Sun Y, Jagai JS, Leibler JH, Fulweiler R, Ashmore J, Wellenius GA, Heiger-Bernays W. Association between Combined Sewer Overflow Events and Gastrointestinal Illness in Massachusetts Municipalities with and without River-Sourced Drinking Water, 2014-2019. Environ Health Perspect. 2024 May; 132(5):57008.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38775485; PMCID: PMC11110654; DOI: 10.1289/EHP14213;
      Article has an altmetric score of 43
  9. Hall SM, Tikku V, Heiger-Bernays WJ. Potential Policy and Community Implications of Equitable Organic Waste, Compost, and Urban Agricultural Systems in the United States. Environ Health Perspect. 2023 Nov; 131(11):115001. PMID: 37966215; PMCID: PMC10648754; DOI: 10.1289/EHP12921;
      Article has an altmetric score of 1
  10. Friedman A, Boselli E, Ogneva-Himmelberger Y, Heiger-Bernays W, Brochu P, Burgess M, Schildroth S, Denehy A, Downs T, Papautsky I, Clauss Henn B. Manganese in residential drinking water from a community-initiated case study in Massachusetts. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2024 Jan; 34(1):58-67.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37301899; PMCID: PMC10727146; DOI: 10.1038/s41370-023-00563-9;
      Article has an altmetric score of 95
Showing 10 of 69 results. Show More

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

Bar chart showing 69 publications over 26 distinct years, with a maximum of 6 publications in 2021

YearPublications
19871
19891
19901
19911
19951
19961
19972
19981
19992
20001
20082
20092
20113
20123
20133
20152
20165
20175
20183
20194
20203
20216
20223
20235
20243
20255

Wendy Heiger-Bernays on how we should, and can, reduce harm from lead in soil

Sewage discharges increase risk of hospital visits for residents near Merrimack River, study finds

WBUR 5/28/2024

Sewage surged into the Merrimack River in 2023 amid record rainfalls, endangering drinking water downstream

The Boston Globe 11/15/2023

How Worried Should We Be About “Forever Chemicals”?

Slate 11/8/2023

3M to pay $10 billion to clean up 'forever chemicals.' Critics say that's not enough

WBUR 6/23/2023

Study: Toxic contamination at Joint Base Cape Cod could persist for centuries

WBUR 5/15/2023

Cambridge finds elevations of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water, will switch to MWRA

The Boston Globe 8/28/2022

Pesticides Are Spreading Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Scientists Warn

Scientific American 6/15/2022

New Bedford’s $1 billion harbor cleanup is nearly complete, EPA says

The Public's Radio 5/31/2022

The Navy told this military family they were safe from toxic water. Then both their children ended up in the ER

Task & Purpose 1/6/2022

The Infrastructure Bill Plans to Curb the Health Costs of Lead Exposure

VeryWell Health 7/9/2021

How the 6-Feet Rule Can Lead Us Astray

Slate 9/30/2020

Some Of The Hardest-Working Frontline Employees In New Orleans Are Living Paycheck To Paycheck

The Appeal 5/27/2020

What Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ And How Are They Getting in Your Food?

Healthline 6/12/2019

More Research Planned On PFAS Water Contamination In Merrimack

Patch 5/28/2019

States aren’t waiting for the Trump administration on environmental protections

The Washington Post 5/28/2019

As Scott Pruitt Flies First Class, EPA Barely Gets Off The Ground

The Huffington Post 3/27/2018

Medical Campus Sees Eight New Full Professorships

BU Today 3/8/2018

2015-2016 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): AAAS Science & Technology Fellowship
2013 BU School of Public Health: Excellence in Teaching - Risk Assessment Methods
2010 Boston University School of Public Health: Norman A. Scotch Award for Excellence in Teaching
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals
risk assessment
water
research translation
lead
Killifish
Fundulus
soil
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