{{short description|American toxicologist}} '''Edward J. Calabrese''' is an American toxicologist and professor in the department of environmental health sciences at the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]].<ref name=umass/> He is the editor emeritus of the [[scientific journal]] ''[[Dose-Response]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/dose-response | title=Dose-Response | work=Sage Publications | date=27 October 2015 | accessdate=30 October 2016}}</ref> ==Education== Calabrese grew up in [[Bridgewater, Massachusetts]].<ref name="poison" /> He received his B.S. from [[Bridgewater State College]] in 1968 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1972 and 1973, respectively.<ref name=umass>{{cite web | url=https://www.umass.edu/sphhs/person/edward-j-calabrese | title=Edward Calabrese | work=University of Massachusetts Amherst | accessdate=21 July 2015}}</ref> ==Academic career== Calabrese began working at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1976.<ref name=discover/> ==Research== Early in his career, Calabrese conducted research on carcinogens.<ref name="poison" /><ref name=discover/> However, he is best known for his research into, and championing of, [[hormesis]],<ref name="poison">{{Cite web |url=http://www.umassmag.com/Spring_2004/The_Power_of_Poison_613.html |title=The Power of Poison |last=O'Carroll, Christopher |date=Spring 2004 |website=UMass Amherst Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100225085018/http://www.umassmag.com/Spring_2004/The_Power_of_Poison_613.html |archive-date=25 February 2010 |access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref><ref name=discover>{{cite web | url=http://discovermagazine.com/2002/dec/featradiation | title=Is Radiation Good For You? | work=Discover | date=December 2002 | accessdate=21 July 2015 | author=Winters, Dan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.science.org/content/article/attack-radiation-geneticists-triggers-furor | title=Attack on Radiation Geneticists Triggers Furor | work=Science Insider | date=18 October 2011 | accessdate=21 July 2015 | author=Crok, Marcel}}</ref> which he has called "the fundamental dose-response model".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2006/12/27/Drug-model-may-be-wrong-for-low-doses/UPI-25921167249853/ | title=Drug model may be wrong for low doses | work=UPI | date=27 December 2006 | accessdate=21 July 2015}}</ref> In 2003, Calabrese told the ''Wall Street Journal'' that the view that there is no threshold of dose below which substances have no adverse effects, as has been stated in scientific textbooks, was "an error of historic proportions."<ref name=begley>{{cite web | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10717862135204800 | title=Scientists Revisit Idea That a Little Poison Could Be Beneficial | work=Wall Street Journal | date=19 December 2003 | accessdate=21 July 2015 | author=Begley, Sharon}}</ref>
He credits his interest in hormesis to an experiment he performed as an undergraduate in 1966. In the experiment, his instructor told Calabrese and his classmates to treat a peppermint plant with a growth-inhibiting substance, [[Phosfon]],<ref name=discover/> but when they did so, the plant responded by growing approximately 40% taller and leafier than plants not treated with the substance,<ref name=begley/> the opposite of what had been expected.<ref name="poison" /> The class later discovered that they had accidentally used a highly diluted form of Phosfon.<ref name="poison" />
<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-says-little-radiation-may-be-healthy/|title=Turning to scientific outliers, EPA says a little radiation may be healthy|website=[[CBS News]] }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Calabrese, Edward J.}}
[[Category:American toxicologists]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Bridgewater, Massachusetts]] [[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty]] [[Category:Bridgewater State University alumni]] [[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]