Stapleton

Heather M. Stapleton

Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor

Research Interests

  • Human exposure in indoor environments
  • Use of silicone wristbands to measure human exposure
  • Chemical exposures and cancer risk
  • Targeted & Nontargeted mass spectrometry methods applied to environmental samples
  • Effects of halogenated organic contaminants (e.g. BFRs, PFAS) on thyroid hormone regulation

Bio

Professor Heather Stapleton is an environmental chemist and exposure scientist in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.  Her research interests focus on identification of halogenated and organophosphate chemicals in building materials, furnishings and consumer products, and estimation of human exposure, particularly in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children.  Her laboratory utilizes mass spectrometry, including targeted and nontargeted approaches, to characterize chemical burdens in both environmental samples and biological tissues to support environmental health research. Currently she serves as the Director for the Duke Superfund Research Center, and Director of the Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory, which is part of NIH’s Human Health Environmental Analysis Resource.

 

Education

  • B.S. Long Island University, Southhampton College, 1997
  • M.S. University of Maryland, College Park, 2000
  • Ph.D. University of Maryland, College Park, 2003

Positions

  • Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor
  • Professor in the Division of Environmental Natural Sciences
  • Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

  • Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Environment. Clarivate. 2021
  • Thomas Langford Lectureship Award. Duke University. 2020
  • Highly Cited Researcher. Clarivate. 2019
  • Best Paper of the Year Award. Environmental Science & Technology. 2011

Courses Taught

  • ENVIRON 899: Master's Project
  • ENVIRON 898: Program Area Seminar
  • ENVIRON 540: Chemical Fate of Organic Compounds
  • ENVIRON 393: Research Independent Study
  • ENVIRON 360: Environmental Health: Pollutant Chemistry and Toxicology
  • CEE 563: Chemical Fate of Organic Compounds

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Wise, Catherine F., Elizabeth Boxer, Jillian Hurst, Rebecca M. Hoehn, Nicholas J. Herkert, Duncan Hay, Ellen M. Cooper, Heather M. Stapleton, and Kate Hoffman. “Silicone Ankle Bands as a Tool to Assess Infant Exposures to Semivolatile Organic Chemicals in Indoor Environments.” Environmental Science & Technology Letters 12, no. 10 (October 14, 2025): 1314–19. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00774.
  • Wang, Xiangtian, Yan Lin, Xiaodong Liu, Emily A. Craig, Heather M. Stapleton, Michael H. Bergin, and Junfeng Jim Zhang. “Urinary Pyrene Carboxylic Acid as a Novel Exposure Biomarker of Woodsmoke.” Environmental Science & Technology Letters, September 2025. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00587.
  • Bauer, R. A., A. Bhattacharya, Y. Guo, S. Zhang, H. M. Stapleton, J. L. Adgate, S. Choyke, C. P. Higgins, and C. C. Carignan. “Elevated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in tap water and serum in a community near an abandoned paper mill.” Environmental Advances 20 (July 1, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2025.100623.
  • Levasseur, Jessica L., Kate Hoffman, Sharon Zhang, and Heather M. Stapleton. “The utility of silicone wristbands in characterizing exposure to parabens found in commercial lotions.” The Science of the Total Environment 975 (May 2025): 179163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179163.
  • Leuthner, Tess C., Sharon Zhang, Brendan F. Kohrn, Heather M. Stapleton, and L Ryan Baugh. “Structure-specific variation in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances toxicity among genetically diverse Caenorhabditis elegans strains.” Toxicological Sciences : An Official Journal of the Society of Toxicology 205, no. 1 (May 2025): 205–19. https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfaf014.