Anne Sweeney, Texas A&M U. associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, has been appointed to a review panel to advise the Environmental Protection Agency on health risks from dioxin and related compounds.

“Dr. Sweeney is very knowledgeable and passionate about her work,” said Brett Walker, class of 2010.

Throughout her career, Sweeney’s research interests have included environmental and occupational exposures to toxic agents and the relationship to adverse reproductive effects. She has been a member of the Environmental Health Committee since 2002 and is a principal investigator for the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment study.

Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals known to science and exposure can cause many health threats including cancer.

“Exposure to dioxin and the health risks that are associated with it has been an important and controversial issue in recent years,” Sweeney said. “The panel’s goal is to further research and identify the specific health risks that dioxin poses to humans.”

The average tenure of service on the board is two years. The first telephone conference is June 24, and the first meeting, in Washington, D.C., will be July 13-15. All meetings will be documented and posted on the web for the public to view.

This will not be Sweeney’s first experience on a review panel for the Environmental Protection Agency. She is currently advising and researching on national air quality standards for carbon monoxide.

She has years of experience in environmental and reproductive health studies and is widely published in this area, said Rae Lynn Mitchell, director of communications and institutional advancement in the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health.