Lecturer
Berkeley School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, and Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
- Senior Environmental Scientist California Department of Toxic Substances Control
Simona Bălan is a lecturer at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, as well as a senior environmental scientist at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, where she implements California’s landmark Safer Consumer Products regulations. Her research focuses on the hazards, environmental fate, and exposure potential of consumer product chemicals.
Dr. Simona A. Bălan is an environmental scientist passionate about environmental health and reducing toxic chemical exposures. In addition to lecturing at UC Berkeley, she is a Senior Environmental Scientist at California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), where she researches potential exposures and adverse impacts from the use of harmful chemicals in consumer products and implements the California Safer Consumer Products (SCP) regulations. She leads the SCP teams researching and regulating certain consumer products that contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Prior to joining DTSC, she was senior scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute, where she managed international projects to reduce the use of flame retardants and PFASs in consumer products. She has a BSc in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, and a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from UC Berkeley.
- PhD – Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, 2013
- BS – Earth and Planetary Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, 2007
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)
- Flame retardants
- Hazard traits of chemicals in consumer products
- Chemical exposures and adverse impacts associated with the life cycle of consumer products
- Regulatory frameworks addressing chemicals in consumer products
- PBHLTH 150b: Human Health and the Environment in a Changing World
- ESPM c167 / PBHLTH c160: Environmental Health and Development
- PBHLTH 271E: Science and Policy for Environmental Health