Career Series: A day in the life of an EGLE toxicologist

Today’s MI Environment article looks at what a typical day is like for Keisha Williams, one of 15 toxicologists at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). Toxicologists are responsible for evaluating chemical hazards, assessing health risks, and translating complex scientific data into health-protective exposure limits. 

Williams has worked in EGLE’s Air Quality Division for 12 years. For her, the work of a toxicologist entails focusing on protecting public health and the environment. “Environmental toxicology helps us understand how pollution can harm public health and the environment,” she said.

That means, at its basic level, relying on risk assessment, the systematic and scientific characterization of potential adverse health effects from exposure to hazardous agents or situations. “In other words, we use a specific process to describe potential risk or the likelihood of negative effects from pollution,” Williams explained.

Science-based risk assessment informs how risks are managed, and communication is important to describe risks. A good example is the use of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality Index during wildfire smoke events, including the wildfire smoke events this past July.

The Air Quality Index uses a color-coded scale to communicate the health risks of near real time air monitoring data, as well as forecasts of air quality. “With this information, people can protect themselves,” Williams noted. “Someone with asthma, for example, may opt to stay indoors and run their air purifier so they do not develop asthma symptoms.”

One thing that surprises people about Williams’s work is that it’s mostly a desk job. A typical day involves participating in meetings, preparing presentations, researching a given chemical, and providing feedback on draft documents. 

In terms of the bigger picture, Williams’s work supports Air Quality Division programs like air permitting. For example, there may be a Michigan-based company that wants to do a project that would increase outdoor air emissions. The company may need an air permit to be allowed to do the project. Williams develops health-based screening levels that are compared to the project’s potential air emission levels. Based on Michigan’s rules, the potential project emissions cannot violate the health-based screening levels.

The health-based screening levels are designed to protect against health problems from breathing air pollution. “As we consider this, we develop health-based screening levels to be protective of the general public including sensitive groups,” Willaims added.

Risk communication can also be used for long-term planning, as well as with following up on complaints. One example of this was the development of a Michigan-specific fact sheet related to odors, how odors impact health, and what people can do to make an official complaint when there is an odor from a facility believed to be regulated by EGLE.

When it comes to health risk communication, Williams also gets to work with other folks like the Michigan Public Service Commission, EPA, community groups, and more. “Recently, I had the opportunity to represent EGLE at an asthma awareness event in Detroit,” she said. “We know that outdoor air pollution can trigger someone’s asthma, so it was important to make sure that the public is aware of that potential trigger, as well as resources that we have to offer.”

Through the Toxics Steering Group, Williams gets to work with other toxicologists in EGLE and the Michigan Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Rural Development. “This interdepartmental group helps improve the work in our various programs.”  

Lastly, if this work seems worth pursuing for you or someone you know, Williams shared a few tips for preparing for this type of career:

• Join a professional society to learn more about environmental toxicology as well as to network with other like-minded people. A couple of professional society examples are the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and the Society of Toxicology.
• Recognize and value your unique strengths.
• Maintain a good support system. This can be family and friends, employee resource groups, church community, a gym membership, a therapist, etc.
• Remember that failure can be just as helpful, if not more helpful, as initial success when you’re able to learn from the failure.

Resources:

• Air Quality Division homepage and Toxics webpage 
• MiEnviro Portal homepage and MiEnviro for Everyone webinar series
• Your Health and Wildfire Smoke webpage
• Toxics Steering Group webpage  
• Society of Toxicology (SOT) organization
• Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) organization