Environmental contamination and toxicology

Complex sytems, wicked problems and Q&A for exam

Day 7 | Lectures on toxicology | Complex systems, wicked problems and Q&A for het exam

Environmental contamination and toxicology

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Ad Ragas

Duration: 90 mins (08.30-10.15)

Summary

The lecture introduces the student to the links between the emission of chemicals, their transport in the environment, the exposure of humans and health risks. Many chemicals we produce eventually end up in the environment. Once in the environment these chemicals can be transported, stored and often degraded in air, water and soil. Eventually, some of these chemicals, or their degradation products, can end up in plants, animals and humans. Inside an organism, the substances can trigger toxic effects and inflict health problems. Not every chemical substance has the same toxicity at a given concentration, and so every substance poses a different risk.

Student learning goals

  • The student can describe the steps: emission of substances, environmental quality, (human) exposure, and toxic effect.
  • The student can name types of substances that are emitted.
  • The student can name the main human exposure pathways.
  • The student can explain the difference between threshold and non-threshold substances.
  • The student understands a dose response curve.

Contributions to course goals

  • To know and understand the relations between water and water related diseases as an example of a socio-ecological problems.

Literature for self study

Obligatory:

Read the introduction and section 1 'The burden of disease attributable to pollution' of:

This lecture is cancelled completely:

Complex systems, wicked problems and Q&A for exam

Lecturer: Dr. Gertjan Geerling

Duration: 90 mins (10.15-12.15)

Summary

The responses of society to overcome health impacts caused by altered environmental conditions can be manifold and ineffective. As we learned, the relations between man, ecology and diseases are complex. In the introduction lecture Dr. Gertjan Geerling introduced the DPSIR model to analyse which roles and actions societal organisations play in causing and solving complex environmental problems. The objective of the circular economy is to translate these actions in new business models. In this lecture we will discuss the concept of the circular economy, present examples of Clean Tech and Smart Engineering in water resources management and elaborate new governance models which can accelerate the innovation process.

Student learning goals

  • The student can describe the principles of the circular economy.
  • The student can reflect on the benefits of a circular economy for human health.

Contributions to course goals

  • Understanding of the socio-cultural processes and mechanisms that underlie present day water and health problems and insight into possible solutions to these integrated problems.

Literature for self study

For your interest (not exam):