Karen Wetterhahn

Karen Elizabeth Wetterhahn (October 16, 1948 – June 8, 1997), also known as Karen Wetterhahn Jennette, She earned her bachelor's degree from St.Lawrence University in 1970 and her doctorate from Columbia University in 1975. Her doctoral work was supervised by Stephen J. Lippard. She joined Dartmouth's faculty in 1976 as their first female chemistry professor and published more than 85 research papers. In 1990, Wetterhahn helped establish Dartmouth College's Women in Science Project (WISP), which helped to raise the share of women science majors from 13 to 25 percent at Dartmouth College and has become a national model.

Research Wetterhahn's research primarily focused on the toxic effects of metals on living organisms, with particular interest in hexavalent chromium.

Accident and death

On August 14, 1996, Wetterhahn, a specialist in toxic metal exposure, was studying how mercury ions interact with DNA repair proteins and investigating the toxic properties of another highly toxic heavy metal, cadmium. She was using dimethylmercury, at the time the standard internal reference for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements.

Wetterhahn later recalled that she had spilled several drops of dimethylmercury from the tip of a pipette onto her latex-gloved hand. However, tests later revealed that dimethylmercury can, in fact, rapidly permeate several kinds of latex gloves and enter the skin within about 15 seconds. Her blood and urinary mercury content were measured at 4,000 μg/L Her death prompted consideration of using an alternative reference material for mercury NMR spectroscopy experiments.

Legacy Wetterhahn's accidental exposure occurred despite her having taken all measures required at that time. These included the use of latex gloves, a fume hood, and adherence to standard safety procedures. After Wetterhahn's mercury poisoning was discovered, her colleagues tested various safety gloves against dimethylmercury and found that the small, apolar molecule diffuses through most of them in seconds, much more quickly than expected. As a consequence of Wetterhahn's accident, safety recommendations have been revised, and the use of dimethylmercury for any purpose has been highly discouraged.

Dartmouth College has since established an award in Wetterhahn's name (The Karen E. Wetterhahn Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry, created in 1998 and funded by the Karen E. Wetterhahn Memorial Fund) to encourage other women to pursue careers in science. It is a one-year fellowship given to an exceptionally good chemistry graduate student who will receive their PhD within two years. Whenever possible, a woman is preferred for the award. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences also maintains the Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award, awarded annually to a graduate student or post-doctoral researcher.