EPA Response to September 11 | Region 2

WTC Dust Screening Method Study Peer Reviewers

Dan Crane, Lead Physical Scientist, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Mr. Dan Crane is a Lead Physical Scientist with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), where he has worked for nearly 30 years. Currently the Leader of OSHA's Physical Measurement and Analysis Team, Mr. Crane also serves as OSHA's expert on physical measurements, especially for asbestos, and as OSHA's liaison to the American Industrial Hygiene Association for asbestos-related issues. Mr. Crane has authored OSHA analytical methods for using both polarized light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to identify asbestos. He also teaches several classes on related topics, including an NIOSH "Fiber Counting Course," an OSHA "Fiber Counting Course," and a general "Laboratory Methods" course. Mr. Crane holds a B.S. in Physics and in Materials Science and Engineering and an M.E. in Materials Science.

Frank Ehrenfeld, Laboratory Director, International Asbestos Testing Laboratories
Mr. Frank Ehrenfeld, Laboratory Director of International Asbestos Testing Laboratories, specializes in characterizing materials using diffraction and microanalysis techniques. Mr. Ehrenfeld has been active in the asbestos and environmental lead analytical field for more than 17 years. Mr. Ehrenfeld has extensive expertise with using multiple analytical techniques (e.g., transmission electron microscopy, polarized light microscopy) to detect asbestos and other fibers in bulk materials, settled dust, soil, sediment, water, and other media. His laboratory has processed thousands of samples that public health agencies, consulting firms, and federal environmental authorities collected in Lower Manhattan following the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Mr. Ehrenfeld holds a B.S. in Chemistry/Biology and has conducted graduate studies in Materials Science and Engineering and in Industrial Hygiene.

Dr. Mickey Gunter, Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Idaho
Dr. Mickey Gunter is a professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Idaho, where his research interests include health effects of mineral dusts and optical mineralogy. He has published dozens of articles in the peer-reviewed literature, including recent articles on optical and morphological characterization of asbestiform and non-asbestiform amphiboles, current applications of polarized light microscopy, and relationships between respiratory health effects and exposures to quartz-rich dusts. Currently, he is researching reactions of minerals that occur in lungs (for the National Institutes of Health), developing educational materials in mineralogy and optical mineralogy (for the National Science Foundation), and various other mineralogical curiosities (e.g., asterism in the Idaho star garnet and the amphibole content of chrysotile and vermiculite ores). A Councilor for the Mineralogical Society of America, Dr. Gunter holds a B.S. in Geology and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Optical Mineralogy.

Dr. Ernest McConnell, President, ToxPath, Inc.
Dr. Ernest McConnell is the President of ToxPath, Inc., and is widely recognized for his expertise in toxicology of inhaled man-made and natural fibers. Dr. McConnell has been a panel member on numerous national and international government and scientific committees, including the International Agency for Research on Cancer's Working Group on the Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Risk to Humans for Silica and Some Silicates, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's Expert Panel on Health Effects of Asbestos and Synthetic Vitreous, and the Environmental Protection Agency's Executive Committee of the Science Advisory Board. Dr. McConnell has authored more than 125 journal articles, the most recent of which have been related to toxicity and carcinogenicity of inhaled stone wool fibers, asbestos, synthetic vitreous fibers, and refractory ceramic fibers. Dr. McConnell holds an M.S. in Pathology from Michigan State University and a D.V.M. from Ohio State University.

Dr. Shu-Chun Su, Senior Research Scientist, Hercules, Inc.
Dr. Shu-Chun Su is currently a Senior Research Scientist at Hercules, Inc. He specializes in various light and electron microscopy techniques, microbeam analysis, single and powder X-ray diffraction, and digital image processing and analysis for the characterization of geological, mineralogical, and industrial materials. Dr. Su has developed many analytical methods during his 18 year career at Hercules's Research Center using polarized light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, phase contrast microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy as well as digital image processing and analysis. He is proficient in VBA (Visual Basic for Application) for EXCEL data processing and analysis and Auto-Pro programming language for Image-Pro Plus applications. Before 1981, Dr. Su had worked 15 years in the Geological Survey, Gansu, China, in mineral and rock identification using polarized light microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. He is a Technical Expert in bulk and airborne asbestos analysis for the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dr. Su is a Fellow of Mineralogical Society of America and holds a B.S. in Geochemistry, an M.S. in Mineralogy, and a Ph.D. in Geology.

Dr. James Webber, Research Scientist, New York State Department of Health
Dr. James Webber, a Research Scientist with the New York State Department of Health, has extensive experience establishing analytical procedures for analyzing environmental samples for asbestos. Dr. Webber has served on expert panels convened by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies on various topics, such as method development for analyzing asbestos in vermiculite attic insulation. Dr. Webber has leadership roles in the American Society for Testing and Materials, International (ASTM) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), both of which develop standards for asbestos analysis. As an independent Technical Expert for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Dr. Webber assessed the performance of more than 100 different asbestos laboratories that use polarized light microscopy (PLM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. Dr. Webber has used PLM and TEM to analyze thousands of environmental samples, including air and water samples collected in Lower Manhattan following the collapse of the World Trade Center. Dr. Webber holds a B.S. in Biology, an M.S. in Zoology, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Health and Toxicology.