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Environmental Science Faculty
Environmental Science Faculty
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Ronald Hites
Distinguished Professor
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1968
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Prof. Hites’ research group applies organic analytical chemistry
to the understanding of environmental problems. Most of his work uses
mass spectrometry for the analysis of trace levels of potentially
toxic environmental pollutants. Specific research areas include:
Transport of Halogenated Compounds. Halogenated organic compounds
move through the atmosphere to remote regions of the globe. Prof.
Hites’ work has focused on semi-volatile organics such as polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and dibenzo-p-dioxins. His laboratory
is making a long-term set of measurements of the concentrations of
these compounds on the shores of the Great Lakes. From these data,
he and his students and associates are able to deduce long-term rates
of change in the absolute concentrations and atmospheric residence
times of these compounds.
Reactions of Pollutants with the Hydroxyl Radical and Ozone.
In order to determine the fates of selected polychlorinated compounds
and biogenic hydrocarbons, Prof. Hites’ laboratory is determining
gas-phase, second order rate constants for their reactions with the
hydroxyl radical (OH). In this way, residence times due to these atmospheric
removal pathways can be estimated.
Anthropogenic Organic Pollutants in the Great Lakes. The
Great Lakes have received a considerable input of toxic organic compounds
from various hazardous waste disposal sites. Other inputs are more
diffuse; for example, deposition from the atmosphere. Prof. Hites’
current goal is to understand the atmospheric transport of PCBs and
chlorinated pesticides to the Great Lakes. Other compound classes
of considerable interest include the brominated flame retardants,
such as the polybrominated diphenyl ethers.
Prior to 1979, Prof. Hites was an associate professor of chemical
engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1991,
he won the American Chemical Society's Award for Creative Advance
in Environmental Science and Technology; in 1993, he won the Society
of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry’s Founders Award.
He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. Prof. Hites is an associate editor of Environmental Science
and Technology. He is the President-Elect of the International Association
for Great Lakes Research.
Awards
Recent Publications
(NOTE: For the most recent list of Professor Hites’
publications, please see http://indiana.edu/~hiteslab/)