About

Leslie Cizmas, PhD, is an Instructional Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University, specializing in Environmental & Occupational Health. Her research interests include water reuse and sustainability, occurrence and toxicity of drinking water contaminants, and the health effects of complex mixtures. Dr. Cizmas has contributed to understanding hydrocarbon contamination in sediments, disinfection by-products in water treatment, and the transformation of environmental pollutants such as bisphenol A and fluoroquinolones during water disinfection processes. Her work also encompasses the impact of treatment strategies on antibiotic resistance, the formation of disinfection byproducts, and the environmental fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. She is actively involved in teaching hazardous materials management, environmental toxicology, and public health courses, integrating her research expertise into her educational efforts.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Biology
• Microbiology
• Environmental engineering
• Environmental chemistry
• Chromatography
• Toxicology
• Ecology
• Waste management
• Engineering
• Biochemistry
• Environmental science
• Organic chemistry

Selected publications

• Impacts of hydraulic fracturing wastewater from oil and gas industries on drinking water: Quantification of 69 disinfection by-products and calculated toxicity

  The Science of The Total Environment · 2023-04-06 · 25 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Tracking the source of contaminant lead in children's blood

  Environmental Research · 2022-04-18 · 15 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Oxidation of antibiotics by ferrate(VI) in water: Evaluation of their removal efficiency and toxicity changes

  Chemosphere · 2021 · 47 citations

  • Chemistry
  • Environmental chemistry
  • Microbiology
  PublisherDOI

• Remote Work and the Environment: Exploratory Analysis of Indoor Air Quality of Commercial Offices and the Home Office

  International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis · 2021-01-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  <i>Background: </i>The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an already existing trend of individuals increasingly working remotely. With the growing popularity of remote working, specifically in a home office, there is a critical need to better understand and characterize the potential environmental differences between these two spaces. Indoor air pollution can have adverse health effects and impair cognitive functioning. <i>Methods:</i> This small pilot cohort study (N=22) recruited home and office workers to better understand the indoor air quality between these spaces. Air contaminants collected and assessed included PM₁₀ and PM_2.5, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). <i>Results:</i> Findings showed a strong statistically significant increase in all measured variables within homes in comparison to traditional offices (p<0.001). Within in individuals’ homes three was a marked increase in variability of environmental conditions in comparison to traditionally offices. These results indicate that those who work from home are at increased risk due to longer exposures to higher levels of certain contaminants, the importance to better develop interventions to mitigate this reality is underscored by the fact that many workers will be moving to home-based offices in the coming years. <i>Conclusion</i>: Traditionally, working adults would split their time between a home and office microenvironment. However, the transition of the workforce from a commercial office building to a home-based office results in more time in the residential microenvironment. This study suggests that home workers may be asked to shoulder an undue burden of environmental conditions than traditional office workers.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Remote Work and the Environment: Exploratory Analysis of Indoor Air Quality of Commercial Offices and the Home Office

  Research Square · 2021-02-05 · 2 citations

  preprintOpen access

  <title>Abstract</title> <bold>Background: </bold>The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an already existing trend of individuals increasingly working remotely. With the growing popularity of remote working, specifically in a home office, there is a critical need to better understand and characterize the potential environmental differences between these two spaces. Indoor air pollution can have adverse health effects and impair cognitive functioning. <bold>Methods:</bold> This small pilot cohort study (N=22) recruited home and office workers to better understand the indoor air quality between these spaces. Air contaminants collected and assessed included PM₁₀ and PM_2.5, carbon dioxide (CO2), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). <bold>Results:</bold> Findings showed a strong statistically significant increase in all measured variables within homes in comparison to traditional offices (p&lt;0.001). For instance, The mean PM2.5 level in the traditional office space was 1.93 µg/m3 whereas it was more than twice this amount (5.97 µg/m3) in home offices.<bold>Conclusion:</bold> These results indicate that those who work from home are at increased risk due to longer exposures to higher levels of certain contaminants, the importance to better develop interventions to mitigate this reality is underscored by the fact that many workers will be moving to home-based offices in the coming years.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Identification of Novel Surfactant-Derived Sulfur-Containing Disinfection Byproducts from Gas Extraction Wastewater

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2020 · 33 citations

  • Chemistry
  • Chromatography
  • Environmental chemistry

  -olefin sulfonate surfactant mixture revealed dodecene sulfonate as a likely precursor for most detected DBPs; disulfur-containing DBPs, like bromosultone sulfonate and bromohydrin disulfonate, originated from olefin disulfonate species, present as side-products of olefin sulfonate production. Disinfection of wastewaters increased mammalian cytotoxicity several orders of magnitude, with chloraminated water being more toxic. This finding is important to OGW-impacted source waters because drinking water plants with high-bromide source waters may switch to chloramination to meet DBP regulations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Occurrence and toxicity of antibiotics in the aquatic environment: A review

  Chemosphere · 2020 · 1412 citations

  • Biology
  • Toxicology
  • Ecology
  PublisherDOI

• Tracking the Source of High Pb Levels in Children’s Blood

  Goldschmidt Abstracts · 2020-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Vulnerable Populations Exposed to Lead-Contaminated Drinking Water within Houston Ship Channel Communities

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2019-08-01 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access

  Recent events have drawn increased attention to potential lead exposures from contaminated drinking water. Further, homes with older infrastructure are at greatest risk due to the presence of the disinfectant chemical chloramine, which can leach lead from older pipes. There is a growing need to determine the extent of lead leaching especially within vulnerable communities and homes with children. This pilot study collected survey data and performed lead analysis on drinking water in the small community of Manchester in Houston, TX. Manchester is characterized by industrial sites, flooding, and a low socioeconomic population. Surveys and water analyses were completed on randomly selected homes (N = 13) and documented perceptions of participants on their drinking water regarding presence and concentration of lead. Lead was discovered in 30.8% of homes ranging from 0.6 to 2.4 (µg/L), all below the US Environmental Protection Agency action level of 15 ppb, but above the water standard goals. These findings further suggest that contaminated water is a broad issue requiring concerted efforts to ensure the health of US residents.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• DETERMINING ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE ROUTES FOR ELEVATED LEVELS OF BLOOD PB IN KANSAS CHILDREN

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2018-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kirby C. Donnelly

  Texas A&M Health Science Center

  28 shared

• Thomas J. McDonald

  Texas A&M Health Science Center

  27 shared

• Virender K. Sharma

  Texas A&M University

  16 shared

• T. D. Phillips

  Texas A&M University

  11 shared

• Rebecca Lingenfelter

  Texas A&M University System

  11 shared

• Timothy D. Phillips

  9 shared

• Mingbao Feng

  Xiamen University

  9 shared

• L.F. Kubena

  9 shared