Karen Wetterhahn, American chemist and academic (born 1948)

Karen Elizabeth Wetterhahn, also known as Karen Wetterhahn Jennette, was an American professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College, 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 a single drop or two of the dimethylmercury absorbed through the gloves proved to be fatal after less than a year.