Academic Credentials
  • M.S., Air and Industrial Hygiene, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1983
  • B.S., Environmental Science, Purdue University, 1981
Licenses & Certifications
  • Certified Industrial Hygienist, Toxicology Aspects Certification
Academic Appointments
  • University of California - Davis, Continuing and Professional Education, Instructor
Professional Affiliations
  • American Industrial Hygiene Association
  • Northern California American Industrial Hygiene Association
  • American Society for Testing Material, Risk Assessment Committee (former member)

Ms. Kalmes is a certified industrial hygienist with 25 years of experience. In this role, she is responsible for designing, conducting, and managing technical studies addressing community, occupational and consumer exposure to chemical agents, including asbestos, benzene, beryllium, chlorine, formaldehyde, lead and other heavy metals, pesticides, styrene, sulfides, and chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Ms. Kalmes has performed comprehensive health investigations related to industrial settings, environmental contamination, and indoor air quality. She has conducted hazardous materials assessments, industrial hygiene surveys, environmental audits for the public and private sector, and provided recommended strategies for worker health and safety compliance programs, including preparation and review of Safety Data Sheets. Ms. Kalmes' evaluations included review of safe chemical handling procedures, use of personal protective equipment, ventilation, and employee training and chemical inventory procedures.

Ms. Kalmes also specializes in conducting and directing studies to assess potential exposure to consumer and personal care products, including evaluation of lead, phthalates, silica, asbestos, benzene, toluene, cadmium, arsenic, ethyl benzene, formaldehyde, bisphenol A, and flame retardants. She has developed sampling protocols to evaluate FDA, CPSC, and Proposition 65 claims, specifically addressing dermal contact and incidental ingestion associated with hand-to-mouth activities as well as naturally occurring lead claims in food products. She has provided exposure assessment and toxicology support for consumer product recall claims. Ms. Kalmes has assisted numerous companies in establishing compliance programs to address Proposition 65 compliance, restricted chemical listings, and green chemistry initiatives. Additionally, she has designed and directed studies to simulate and reconstruct chemical exposures associated with use and handling of consumer products in residential and occupational settings. She has also sampled and reconstructed historical exposure to asbestos, benzene, formaldehyde, and a variety of volatile chemicals in residential and workplace settings.

Ms. Kalmes has prepared over 200 regulatory human health environmental risk assessments for various properties, including former landfills, industrial, residential, recreational, and agricultural properties, and schools, including Brownfields Sites, addressing potential solvent, petroleum, PCB, and metals exposure in air, soil, and groundwater. Ms. Kalmes has evaluated residential and commercial soil vapor intrusion issues for trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and other volatile chemicals through use of soil vapor modeling and air monitoring tools. Ms. Kalmes has also prepared several TSCA Risk Assessments for high-priority chemicals including evaluation of EPA Test Order protocols and exposure data. She has communicated risk results to a variety of stakeholders, including neighborhood, worker, and community groups. Ms. Kalmes has evaluated residential and commercial soil vapor intrusion issues through use of soil vapor modeling and air monitoring tools.

Ms. Kalmes has also conducted exposure assessment analyses of community and occupational exposure data for use in cohort and case-control epidemiologic studies and exposure assessments. In this role, she has designed and managed air sampling programs to evaluate various job classifications to be used in epidemiological studies.

Ms. Kalmes has taught numerous courses on risk assessment, industrial hygiene, and toxicology at the University of California Extension Program and has developed and conducted more than 100 hazard communication training programs. Ms. Kalmes has been an invited speaker at numerous professional conferences and is frequently invited to speak and lecture on exposure assessment methods. Ms. Kalmes often interacts with local and state regulatory agencies and has testified as an expert in the area of exposure assessment, industrial hygiene, Proposition 65, and human health risk assessment.