As a demonstrated leader in the occupational and environmental health professions since 1975, Carnow Conibear continues to be an intelligent resource for protecting the health, safety and environment of businesses, employees and the public.
Carnow Conibear Features
  • 35 years of environmental engineering, industrial hygiene and occupational medicine multidisciplinary consulting
  • An extensive knowledge of regulatory policies and standards
  • Upper management direction of projects and audit programs
  • A large and diverse array of clients and experience in completing unique and challenging projects


Carnow Conibear is a City of Chicago-certified WBE firm.

35 Years of Environmental and Occupational Consulting Services

  • 1966 Dr. Bertram Carnow becomes the Medical Director of the Chicago Bronchopulmonary disease Registry.  Data from this registry will be used to perform some of the first epidemiologic studies of the effects of air pollution on lung diseases.

  • 1969 Dr. Carnow becomes Chair of the Chicago Clean Air Coordinating Committee and a member of the City of Chicago Board of Health Air Quality Standards Committee.
  • 1970 Congress passes Clean Air Act (CAA), regulating air emissions.
  • 1970  Dr. Carnow founds and becomes Director of the Environmental Health Resource Center of the State of Illinois Institute for Environmental Quality.  Over the course of eight years, it will issue seventeen documents used by the State of Illinois for standard setting.
  • 1970 Congress passes Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), regulating workplace safety.
  • 1973 EPA develops NESHAPs to protect public from asbestos.
  • 1974 Dr. Carnow serves as a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Panel on Non-renewable Resources and Polycyclic Organic Matter, and is Chair of the National Research Council’s Panel on Sox for the National Academy of Science.  His epidemiologic research on the health effects of sulfur dioxide is later used to amend the Clean Air Act.
  • 1975 Dr. Carnow and Dr. Shirley Conibear form Carnow, Conibear & Assoc., Ltd., an occupational health and safety consulting firm. Dr. Conibear plays major role in running the firm, a pioneer in women-managed business at the time.
  • 1976 Congress passes the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), creating “cradle-to-grave” regulations for hazardous waste.
  • 1976 Congress passes Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), regulating the manufacture of all chemicals produced or imported in the US.
  • 1977 Congress passes Clean Water Act (CWA), regulating discharge of pollutants to US waterways.
  • 1977 Carnow Conibear performs a large epidemiologic study on the health effects of aluminum smelting on workers in Kittimat, Vancouver.
  • 1978 The manufacture of lead-based paint is banned.
  • 1978 Carnow Conibear performs its first asbestos inspection, design and removal projects.
  • 1980 “Superfund” (CERCLA) is created, funding the cleanup of uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites.
  • 1986 The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act is past regulating the management of asbestos containing materials in schools
  • 1991 Carnow Conibear oversees asbestos abatement in 250 Chicago Public Schools over the next 10 years.  In 1997, Carnow Conibear acts as the general contractor for more than $70 million of asbestos abatement in the Chicago Public Schools.
  • 1991 Following Hurricane Andrew, Carnow Conibear performs mold investigations and assists with remediation in hospital and retail settings.
  • 1992 Carnow Conibear performs emergency environmental investigation in flooded tunnels during downtown Chicago Flood.
  • 1993 Carnow Conibear certified as a Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) by City of Chicago.
  • 1993 Carnow Conibear performs mold remediation services for major hotels in Hawaii following Hurricane Iniki.
  • 1993 Chicago becomes one of the first cities in the nation to require carbon monoxide alarms in housing.
  • 1994 Dr. Conibear is appointed to the National Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) as the Public Health member.
  • 1994 Carnow Conibear works for BRK Brands on the issue of carbon monoxide detector alarms in Chicago homes.  A random sample of homes in the City are selected and tested for CO resulting in a presentation at an ASHRAE meeting in 1995.
  • 1997 Carnow Conibear performs asbestos and lead survey of entire Old Chicago Post Office.
  • 1997 Carnow Conibear starts Midway Airport Redevelopment – an 8-year project removing Underground Storage Tanks and remediating contaminated soil.
  • 1998 Carnow Conibear performs mold surveys and oversees cleanup of major hotel chain in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Georges.
  • 2000 Carnow Conibear inspects and oversees clean-up of large-scale mercury spills in Northern Illinois following natural gas meter replacement.
  • 2000 Carnow Conibear performs hazardous materials surveys and oversees abatement of several Northwestern Memorial Hospital buildings prior to demolition.
  • 2001 St. Charles East High School is shut down due to extensive mold contamination. Carnow Conibear hired to develop and oversee mold remediation. The school is reopened one year later.
  • 2004 Dr. Conibear serves on the Joint Illinois House-Senate Task Force on Mold in Indoor Environments.
  • 2005 Carnow Conibear becomes the first licensed commercial radon testing firm in Chicago.
  • 2008 Carnow Conibear performs asbestos and hazardous materials inspection of entire Michael Reese Hospital Complex after it is named as a possible Olympic Village site. Currently overseeing remediation.
  • 2009 Carnow Conibear performs employee exposure monitoring for U.S. firm in Brazil factories.
  • 2010  Carnow Conibear is selected by Metra to perform air quality monitoring on Metra passenger cars and train stations.