Jacob de Boer is professor in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology at the VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is head of the Dept. Chemistry and Biology of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the VU University, with a research group of ca. 25 scientists, and deputy director of IVM. Professor de Boer has worked for many years on the environmental contamination of persistent organic pollutants. He has published over 150 peer research articles.