Barnett Rattner, Ph.D.
Dr. Barnett Rattner is an ecotoxicologist at the Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD.
He conducts hypothesis-driven laboratory and field investigations, risk assessments and scholarly evaluations on the toxicity of legacy and contemporary pollutants (industrial contaminants, metals, pesticides, petroleum crude oil) to wildlife and the environment. His current focus is on exposure and adverse effects of anticoagulant rodenticides, flame retardants and pharmaceuticals, comparative toxicology, non-target secondary poisoning associated with rodenticides, alternative testing methods, and screening-level risk assessments. Dr. Rattner actively represents the DOI as a member of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods, and serves as a special consultant to the Fish and Wildlife Service on issues related to nontoxic shot used in hunt nontoxic shot used in hunt waterfowl.
Active Projects:
- Development of data and models to evaluate the hazard and risk of anticoagulant rodenticides to non-target raptorial species
- Absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination and toxicity of neonicotinoids in seed-eating birds
- Harmful algal blooms and bird die-offs in the Chesapeake Bay: A potential link?
- Contaminant exposure and potential reproductive effects in ospreys nesting in Chesapeake and Delaware Bay
- Contaminant-related activities and synoptic reviews in support of client agencies in the Department of the Interior
- Technical assistance to the Fish and Wildlife Service on alternative shot
Accomplishments:
- Authored over 150 publications, co-edited three books (Handbook of Ecotoxicology, Ecotoxicology of Wild Mammals, Anticoagulant Rodenticides and Wildlife), and made over 175 presentations at scientific meetings, workshops and symposia.
- Compiled two widely used internet-accessible ecotoxicological databases (Contaminant Exposure and Effects—Terrestrial Vertebrates database, Biological and Ecotoxicological Characteristics of Terrestrial Vertebrate Species Residing in Estuaries).
- Serves as Terrestrial Editor of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and as an Editorial Board member of the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.
Professional Experience
Ecotoxicologist and Physiologist (research scientist, section leader, deputy branch chief) Department of the Interior, FWS, NBS, and USGS (1978-present)
Adjunct Professor University of Maryland, Department of Animal and Avian Sciences & Department of Environmental Science and Technology (1988-2022)
National Research Council Post-doctoral Research Associate, National Naval Medical Center (1978)
Guest Worker, National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH (1974-1981)
Instructor and Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, Department of Zoology (1972-1977)
Education and Certifications
B.S., University of Maryland, 1972 - Zoology
M.S., University of Maryland, 1974 - Zoology, Developmental Biology
Ph.D., University of Maryland, 1977 - Zoology, Environmental Physiology
National Research Council Postdoctoral Associateship, Naval Medical Research Institute, 1978 - Hyperbaric Physiology
Affiliations and Memberships*
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Society of Toxicology
The Wildlife Society
American Physiological Society
Honors and Awards
Distinguished Service Award, Department of the Interior 2018
Fellow, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 2017
President, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry World Council 2015
President, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry - North America 2012
SETAC Government Service Award 2007
Science and Products
Development of dietary-based toxic reference values to assess the risk of chlorophacinone to non-target raptorial birds
Toxicokinetics and coagulopathy threshold of the rodenticide diphacinone in eastern screech-owls (Megascops asio)
Comparative embryotoxicity of a pentabrominated diphenyl ether mixture to common terns (Sterna hirundo) and American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
Toxic exposure of songbirds to lead in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District
Critique on the use of the standardized avian acute oral toxicity test for first generation anticoagulant rodenticides
Assessment of toxicity and potential risk of the anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone using Eastern screech-owls (Megascops asio)
Copper pellets simulating oral exposure to copper ammunition: Absence of toxicity in American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
Comparative risk assessment of the first-generation anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone to raptors
Wildlife toxicology: environmental contaminants and their national and international regulation
Acute toxicity, histopathology, and coagulopathy in American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following administration of the rodenticie diphacinone
History of wildlife toxicology and the interpretation of contaminant concentrations in tissues
Absorption and biotransformation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers DE-71 and DE-79 in chicken (Gallus gallus), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), American kestrel (Falco sparverius) and black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs
Science and Products
Development of dietary-based toxic reference values to assess the risk of chlorophacinone to non-target raptorial birds
Toxicokinetics and coagulopathy threshold of the rodenticide diphacinone in eastern screech-owls (Megascops asio)
Comparative embryotoxicity of a pentabrominated diphenyl ether mixture to common terns (Sterna hirundo) and American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
Toxic exposure of songbirds to lead in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District
Critique on the use of the standardized avian acute oral toxicity test for first generation anticoagulant rodenticides
Assessment of toxicity and potential risk of the anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone using Eastern screech-owls (Megascops asio)
Copper pellets simulating oral exposure to copper ammunition: Absence of toxicity in American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
Comparative risk assessment of the first-generation anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone to raptors
Wildlife toxicology: environmental contaminants and their national and international regulation
Acute toxicity, histopathology, and coagulopathy in American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following administration of the rodenticie diphacinone
History of wildlife toxicology and the interpretation of contaminant concentrations in tissues
Absorption and biotransformation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers DE-71 and DE-79 in chicken (Gallus gallus), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), American kestrel (Falco sparverius) and black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government