Karen Wetterhahn

Karen Elizabeth Wetterhahn, also known as Karen Wetterhahn Jennette, was an American professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, who specialized in toxic metal exposure. She died of mercury poisoning at the age of 48 due to accidental exposure to the extremely toxic organic mercury compound dimethylmercury. Protective gloves in use at the time of the incident provided insufficient protection, and exposure to only one or two drops of the dimethylmercury absorbed through the gloves proved to be fatal after less than a year.