About
Eric J. Esswein is CEO of Emeritus Health and Safety, LLC. Eric enlisted and was honorably discharged from the U.S Army and served 26 years as an Environmental Health Officer/Industrial Hygienist in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) assigned to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) /National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Eric was honorably discharged from the USPHS in September 2017 at the rank of Captain (O-6).
Eric has more than 35 years’ experience in occupational health and safety/industrial hygiene practice. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health/Toxicology and a Master of Science in Public Health/Industrial Hygiene and completed post graduate studies in Emergency Management and Planning. His professional credentials include Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Certified Indoor Air Quality Professional (CIAQP). In 2018, Eric was awarded the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Distinguished Fellow designation for extraordinary contributions to the industrial hygiene profession.
Eric has been retained as an expert witness or been deposed on various subjects including: indoor use of ozone generators, lead (Pb), and other chemicals contamination of surfaces, and surface and objects contamination with SARS CoV2 virus. Eric incepted and led the NIOSH Field Effort to Assess Chemical Exposures in Oil and Gas Workers, a field-based exposure assessment research study that identified previously unknown exposure risks (and proposed and developed controls) for workers in oil and gas extraction. Eric is the first named inventor for three U.S. patents in the areas of lead (Pb) detection and decontamination and air pollution emissions control for large machinery used during hydraulic fracturing. During his USPHS career Eric served as a team leader for domestic and international public an occupational health emergencies including the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack, anthrax attack on the U.S. Capitol, SARS pandemic (Taiwan) COVID-19 in the US. Ebola outbreaks in Liberia W. Africa and Dallas, TX.
Eric was awarded an Honorary Lecturer position at the University of the Witwatersrand, School of Public Health in Johannesburg, South Africa where he’s taught in the Master of Public Health/Occupational Hygiene curriculum (control of occupational health exposure risks), 2005-’17. He has been interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR), the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. As a civilian, Eric works as a contract Sr.Industrial Hygienist for CDC/NIOSH, Western States Division in Denver, Colorado where he engages in field-based research on ventilation for COVID-19 prevention, and oil and gas extraction industrial hygiene/health and safety.
