Background
Grandjean, Philippe Adam was born on March 1, 1950 in Copenhagen. Son of Louis E. and Tove (Hermann) Grandjean.
Environmental medicine researcher
Grandjean, Philippe Adam was born on March 1, 1950 in Copenhagen. Son of Louis E. and Tove (Hermann) Grandjean.
Born in Denmark in 1950, Grandjean obtained his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Copenhagen in 1973 and his Doctor of Philosophy in 1979.
Grandjean is also the head of the Environmental Medicine Unit at the University of Southern Denmark. He is known for his research into the developmental toxicity and adverse effects of certain environmental chemicals to which children are commonly exposed. He began his career conducting field work into mercury poisoning and Minamata disease after seeing a woman with the disease on television in 1972.
This experience led him to spend his career researching neurotoxic substances.
Grandjean is known for conducting considerable research into the health effects of mercury in fish, and has spoken out for the maximum levels allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency to be lowered by 50%. A 2006 review by Grandjean and Philip Landrigan identified 202 environmental chemicals in the Lancet they described as potentially harmful to children"s neurodevelopment.
This review also highlighted six of these substances—methylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, ethanol, lead, arsenic, and toluene—as the ones with the greatest potential developmental neurotoxicity. At the time this paper had been published, Grandjean said, "The bottom line is you only get one chance to develop a brain," adding that "We have to protect children against chemical pollution because damage to a developing brain is irreversible." A study by Grandjean, published in 2012, found that children"s exposure to perfluorinated compounds may decrease the efficacy of vaccines.
In 2014, Grandjean and Landrigan published an article in The Lancet Neurology which resembled their 2006 review in that it was also about the adverse neurodevelopmental effects of chemicals on children.
However, their 2014 study increased the number of environmental chemicals they considered to be harmful from six to twelve. The article also proposed the implementation of a "global prevention strategy" to reduce children"s exposure to such chemicals, and encouraged lawmakers not to assume that untested chemicals were "safe to brain development.".
Member Association School Public Health European Region (treasurer 1975-1977), International Commission Occupational Health (board directors since 1990), Society Occupational Environmental Health (board directors since 1990), International Society Environmental Epidemiology(board directors since 1991).
Married Elaine C. Pysz.