Bernadette Quemerais

Area of Study / Keywords

Exposure Assessment Environmental Chemistry environmental monitoring inorganic trace analysis occupational hygiene

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About

I am an environmental chemist who began my career by studying the mass balance of contaminants, specifically mercury, in the St. Lawrence River basin. I then worked for the Canadian Forces as an occupational hygienist, where I did some work on noise in Sea King helicopters, but mainly on soldiers' exposure to atmospheric emissions produced during live gun firing.

Since arriving at the University of Alberta, I have been developing a program on nanoparticles and ultrafine particles. Specifically, I am interested in developing techniques for sampling and analyzing nanoparticles and ultrafine particles and assessing the health effects of these particles. 

I am a member of the Alberta Respiratory Centre. 

Awards

• Public Service Award of Excellence, 1999

Partnership with Other Research Groups and Industries

• Canadian Centre for Welding and Joining (CCWJ), University of Alberta
• Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta
• School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, University of Alberta
• 3M
• Michelin
• Canadian Welding Board (CWB)
• Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT)
• Local 146: Boilermakers
• Local 488: Plumbers & Pipefitters

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Research

My program presently concentrates on exposure assessment to welding fumes and their health effects using urinary metabolite profiling. My group has completed a research project on urinary metabolites in welder apprentices and we are now looking at using metals in exhaled breath condensates of welders as a biomarker of exposure to welding fumes.

Current Grants

3M/Government of Alberta Operating Grant (2019/2020)
“Urinary metabolites as biomarkers of welding fume exposure in professional welders”
Principal Investigator

WorkSafe BC Operating Grant (2019/2020)
“Metals in exhaled breath condensates as markers of exposure to welding fumes”
Principal Investigator

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Teaching

Courses:

• MED 514/SPH 521: Occupational Hygiene
• ENGG 406: Methodologies and Tools (ESRM-MT)

Ata Rafiee Ramon Carvalho Doris Lunardon Carlos Flores-Mir Paul Major Bernadette Quemerais Khaled Altabtbaei

JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH. 2022 April; 10.1177/00220345221087880

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Tilstra M.H., Tiwari I., Niwa L., Campbell S., Nielsen C.C., Allyson Jones C., Vargas A.O., Bulut O., Quemerais B., Salma J., Whitfield K., Yamamoto S.S.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021 October; 18 (20) 10.3390/ijerph182010575

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Rafiee A., Laskar I., Quémerais B.

REVIEWS ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. 2021 May; 10.1515/reveh-2020-0174

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Meghan E Dueck Ata Rafiee James Mino Sindhu G Nair Samineh Kamravaei Lei Pei Bernadette Quémerais

Annals of Work Exposures and Health. 2021 April; 10.1093/annweh/wxab016

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Nicola Cherry Jean-Michel Galarneau David Kinniburgh Bernadette Quemerais Sylvia Tiu Xu Zhang

Annals of Work Exposures and Health. 2021 March; 65 (2):148-161 10.1093/annweh/wxaa064

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