Research Scientist
School of Public Health
Center for Occupational & Environmental Health
University of California
50 University Hall #7360
Berkeley, CA 94720-7360
mpwilson@berkeley.edu
510-642-5703 Fax: 510-642-5815

Green Chemistry: Cornerstone to a Sustainable California. Report to California EPA (2008)
UC Berkeley/UCLA press release | California EPA press release

Program in Green Chemistry and Chemicals Policy (2008)

Green Chemistry in California: A Framework for Leadership in Chemicals Policy and Innovation. Report to the California Legislature (2006)
Executive Summary | UC Berkeley press release


Creative Achievements
• Doctoral (Ph.D) and masters (MPH) studies in environmental health sciences at UC Berkeley from 1996 to 2003. In his doctoral research, Dr. Wilson obtained the first worker exposure data to volatile organic compounds in the vehicle repair industry, which shed light on exposures related to the first-reported cases of hexane-induced peripheral neuropathy in this industry. His work also illuminated larger policy challenges facing California and the U.S. regarding the design, use, and regulation of chemicals in processes and products.
•  Chief author of the University of California report, Green Chemistry in California: A Framework for Leadership in Chemicals Policy and Innovation- http://coeh.berkeley.edu/news/06_wilson_policy.htm. The California Legislature requested the report in January, 2004. The report was released to the Legislature by the California Policy Research Center of the UC Office of the President on March 14, 2006.
•  Presented findings of the UC chemicals policy report before the California Senate Committee on Environmental Quality on June 28, 2006 in Sacramento, California (http://www.cicc.org/pdf/Wilson%20_Testimony_6.28.06.pdf) and before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on August 2, 2006, in Washington, D.C. (http://epw.senate.gov/hearing_statements.cfm?id=260423.) He continues to present the report’s findings to public interest, industry, and governmental entities throughout the U.S.

Appointments
• In September 2009, Dr. Wilson was appointed to the Monitoring Work Group of the U.S. CDC's National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures
• On March 13, 2009, Dr. Wilson was appointed by California Department of Toxic Substances Control Director Maureen Gorsen to the state's Green Ribbon Science Panel (AB 1879-Feuer, Los Angeles)
• On August 31, 2007, Dr. Wilson was appointed by California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez to the nine-member California Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program Scientific Guidance Panel (http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a46/press/20070831AD46PR01.htm.)
• On July 31, 2007, Dr. Wilson was appointed to Cal/EPA's Green Chemistry Science Advisory Panel (http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PressRoom/upload/News_2007_T_17_07.pdf.)
 
Current Research Interests
• Research and practice in the area of chemicals policy and in occupational health and safety.
• Support has been provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the UC Office of the President, the UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program, the California Department of Health Services, and private foundation grants. Dr. Wilson is a 2002-2003 Fellow of the Switzer Foundation.
 
Key Publications
•  Evaluating Indoor Exposure Modeling Alternatives for LCA: A Case Study in the Vehicle Repair Industry. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2009, 43, 5804–5810. Demou E, Hellweg S, Wilson M, Hammond SK, and McKone T. [pdf]
•  Green Chemistry and Workers. New Solutions. Hughes J, Legrande D, Zimmerman J, Wilson M, Beard S. August 2009, Vol. 19(2) 239-253. [pdf]
•  Toward a New U.S. Chemicals Policy: Rebuilding the Foundation to Advance New Science, Green Chemistry, and Environmental Health. Environmental Health Perspectives. Wilson M, Schwarzman M, August 2009. [pdf]
• Policy Developments in the United States Related to Chemicals and Electronic Waste. Wilson & Kirschner, in "Governance, Risk and Compliance Handbook: Technology, Finance, Environmental, and International Guidance and Best Practices," Anthony Tarantino, Ed. ISBN: 978-0-470-09589-8, Wiley & Sons, March 2008. [link]
• Protecting Workers in Industrial Confined Spaces. Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley. March 2008. [pdf]
• Green Chemistry: Cornerstone to a Sustainable California. Special Report to the California Environmental Protection Agency. University of California Centers for Occupational and Environmental Health. Wilson M, Schwarzman M, Malloy T, Fanning E, Sinsheimer P. January 2008. [pdf]
• Worker exposure to volatile organic compounds in the vehicle repair industry, Michael P. Wilson, S. Katharine Hammond, Alan Hubbard, Mark Nicas (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene , 4:301-310, May 2007.) [pdf]
•  Executive Summary: Green Chemistry in California: A Framework for Chemicals Policy and Innovation , Michael P. Wilson, Daniel A. Chia, Bryan C. Ehlers (New Solutions: A Journal of Occupational and Environmental Policy, Vol 16(4), Dec 2006.) [pdf]
•  Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Michael P. Wilson (Congressional Quarterly , August 2, 2006) [pdf]
•  Green Chemistry in California: A Framework for Leadership in Chemicals Policy and Innovation. Special Report to the California Senate Environmental Quality Committee and Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. University of California, California Policy Research Center. Wilson M, Chia D, Ehlers B. March 2006. [pdf]
•  n-Hexane-Related Peripheral Neuropathy Among Automotive Technicians - California, 1999-2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review 2001; 50(45):1011-3. [link]
 
Teaching
Dr. Wilson conducts lectures at UC Berkeley in courses pertaining to exposure assessment, the environmental health sciences doctoral and masters seminars, risk assessment, research methodology, environmental policy, and chemicals policy.
 
Honors
• Helen Clark Memorial Award in Occupational and Environmental Health, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, October 2009
• Fellow (Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation, 2002-03)
• Legge Memorial Award (American Industrial Hygiene Association, Northern California Section, 2002)
• James Keogh Memorial Award (American Public Health Association, Occupational Health and Safety Section, 2000)
• Bernard D. Tebbens Memorial Award (American Industrial Hygiene Association, Northern California Section, 1998)
• Finalist, Industrial Safety Analysis (Semiconductor Industry Safety Association, 1997)
• Industrial Toxicology Award (Environmental Health Sciences, UCB, 1997)
• Scholarship (American Industrial Hygiene Foundation, 1997)
• Scholarship (National Safety Council, 1997)
• Scholarship (UC Berkeley Public Health Alumni Association, 1997)
• Outstanding Service Award (International Association of Firefighters, 1996)
• Harvard Trade Union Program Scholarship (International Association of Firefighters, 1995)
 
Biography
• Ph.D, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
• MPH, Industrial Hygiene, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
• Bachelor's degree (BA) in biology in 1984 from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with Thesis Honors.
• 1995 graduate of the Trade Union Program at Harvard University.
• 1985 graduate of the Pre-Hospital Care Program at Stanford University.
• 1978 to 1996: served in the emergency services as a crewman and coxswain with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in Monterey, California, as a firefighter-paramedic with the Salinas City Fire Department, as a paramedic with Santa Cruz Ambulance Service, Inc. and as a representative of fire and EMS labor organizations.