Prof. dr. J. de Boer

Summary

Jacob de Boer is Professor in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology and Head of the Dept. Chemistry and Biology of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Since May 2009 he is deputy director of IVM. He is a member of the CEFIC LRI advisory panel (ESAP), of the Working Group on Prenatal exposure to contaminants, Dutch Health Council,  the Board of international BFR symposia series, and the QUASIMEME Scientific Assessment Group. He has coordinated several European Research projects. He was involved as a partner in many other EU research projects, and he has coordinated many large research projects for international organisations and industries. He has published over 160 peer reviewed articles on the analysis and environmental monitoring of contaminants. He has organized many workshops, contributed to several radio and TV documentary and news programs, and he is a regular invited speaker at international symposia. 

Professor De Boer has worked for many years on the environmental contamination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Nowadays he is heavily involved in studies on brominated flame retardants, chlorinated paraffins and many other organic contaminants. He gained a lot of experience in the organisation of international interlaboratory studies on contaminants and on the production of (certified) reference materials for contaminant analysis. He is an advisor for UNEP, and various other international organisations. He is editor of Chemosphere (Elsevier), and member of the editorial board of the Handbook of Environmental Chemistry (Springer), J. Environ. Sci. Health part A (Taylor and Francis) and of CLEAN–Soil,air and water (Wiley), and was guest-editor of special issues for Trends in Analytical Chemistry (2006), Chemosphere (2008), Molecular Nutrition and Food Research (2008), and Journal of Chromatography A (2009). He is currently supervising six Ph. D. students.

Expertise

• Analytical chemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Gas Chromatography/mass spectrometry
• Method development for organic contaminants
• Preparation of (certified) reference materials
• Organisation of proficiency tests and interlaboratory studies
• Quality assurance
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• Brominated flame retardants (BFRs)
• Phosphorus Flame retardants (PFRs)
• Chlorinated flame retardants (CFRs)
• Marine litter and plastics
• Marine (and offshore) pollution
• Shellfish toxin analysis

Academic training

• 1975     BSc Analytical chemistry, Beverwijk/Haarlem, The Netherlands
• 1995     Ph.D. Analytical chemistry, VU University, Amsterdam (Prof. Brinkman), The Netherlands

Professional employment history

• 2009-now  Deputy Director IVM 
• 2006-now  Chair of Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, Head Dept. Chemistry and Biology, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University, Amsterdam. 
• 2005-2006 Professor Analytical Environmental Chemistry, Wageningen University, Depts. of Toxicology  and Fisheries and Fish Farming (Personal professorship, 20%). 
• 2002-2005 Head Dept. Environment and Food Safety, RIVO (Contract-based laboratory, accredited under the Dutch   Council for Accreditation (R097, ISO 17025 and ISO 9001) 
• 1992-2005 Senior scientist, Head Environmental Research Group and Deputy Head of the Dept. Environment, Quality, Technology and Nutrition, RIVO 
• 1986-1992 Junior scientist, RIVO 
• 1976-1986 Head of laboratory, RIVO 
• 1974-1976 Technician, Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research (RIVO), IJmuiden, The Netherlands

Supervision PhD students

Graduated:
Stefan van Leeuwen (2009)
Annelies Hommersom (2010)
Thijs van Boxtel (2010)

Current:
Jan Balaam
Liana Bastos Sales
Petra Booij
Sicco Brandsma
Joantina van Esterik
Eszter Simon

Selected publications

Link to full publication list at IVM since 2006

• Leslie, H.A., P.E.G. Leonards, R.F. Shore, L.A. Walker, S. Morris, C.R. Allchin, J. de Boer (2011). Screening and time trend of decabromodiphenylether and hexabromocyclododecane in wild birds. Chemosphere, 82, 88-95.
• Boer, J. de, Q.T. Dao, S.P.J. van Leeuwen, M.J.J. Kotterman, J.H.M. Schobben (2010). Thirty year monitoring of PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and brominated diphenylethers in eel from The Netherlands. Environ. Pollut., 158, 1228-1236.
• Gerssen, A., E. van Olst, P. Mulder, J. de Boer (2010). In-house validation of a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the analysis of lipophilic marine toxins in shellfish using matrix-matched calibration. Anal.Bioanal.Chem., 397, 3079–3088.
• Leeuwen, S.P.J. van, Velzen, M.J.M. van, Swart, C.P., Veen, I. van der, Traag, W.A., Boer, J. de (2009). Halogenated contaminants in farmed salmon, trout, tilapia, pangasius and shrimp. Environ. Sci. Technol ., 42 , 4009 − 4015.
• Belpaire, C.G.J., G. Goemans, C. Geeraerts, P. Quataert, K. Parmentier, P. Hagel, J. de Boer (2009).  Decreasing eel stocks : survival of the fattest Ecol. Freshwater Fish., 18, 197-214.
• López, P., S.A. Brandsma, P.E.G. Leonards, J. de Boer (2009). Methods for the determination of phenolic brominated flame retardants and by-products, formulation intermediates and decomposition products of brominated flame flame retardants in water. J. Chromatogr. A 1216, 334-345.
• Gerssen, A., P. P.J. Mulder, A.M. Elhinney; J. de Boer (2009). Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of marine lipophilic toxins under alkaline conditions. J. Chromatogr. A, 1216, 1421-1430.
• Boer, J. de, H. Leslie, S.P.J. van Leeuwen, J.-W. Wegener, B. van Bavel, G. Lindström, H. Fiedler (2008). UNEP intercomparisons and training on POPs analysis under the Stockholm Convention. Anal. Chim. Acta 617, 208-215.
• Skoczynska, E., P. Korytar, J. de Boer (2008). Maximizing chromatographic information from GCxGC-ToF-MS. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42, 6611–6618.
• Gerssen, A., P. Mulder, H. van Rhijn, J. de Boer (2008). Mass spectrometric analysis of the marine lipophilic biotoxins pectenotoxin-2 and okadaic acid by four different types of mass spectrometers.. J. Mass Spectr. 43 , 1140-1147.
• Leeuwen, S.P.J. van,  J. de Boer (2008). Advances in the gas chromatographic determination of persisitent organic pollutants in the aquatic environment. J. Chromatogr. A 1186, 161-182.
• Covaci, A., Gerecke, A.C., Law, R.J., Voorspoels, S., Kohler, M., Heeb, N.V., Leslie, H., Allchin, C.R. & Boer, J. de (2006). Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) in the environment and humans: a review. Environ. Sci. Technol. 40, 3679-3688.
• Boer, J. de, D.E. Wells (2006). Pitfalls in the analysis of brominated flame retardants in environmental, human and food samples – including results of three international interlaboratory studies. Trends Anal. Chem. 25, 364-372.
• Korytar, P., Haglund, P., Diaz, J., Vreuls, R., Budzinski, H., Leonards, P., Boer, J. de & Brinkman, U. (2006). Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography for the analysis of organohalogenated micro-contaminants. Trends Anal. Chem., 25, 373-396.
• Morris, S., Allchin, C., Zegers, B., Haftka, J.J.H., Boon, J.P., Belpaire, C., Leonards, P., Leeuwen, S.P.J. van & Boer, J. de (2004). Distribution and fate of HBCD and TBBPA brominated flame re-tardants in North Sea estuaries and aquatic food webs. Environ. Sci. Technol., 38, 5497-5504.
• Boer, J. de, Wester, P.G., Klamer, J.C., Lewis, W.E. & Boon, J.P. (1998). Brominated flame retar-dants in sperm whales and other marine mammals - a new threat to ocean life? Nature, 394, 28-29.