ECOTOXICOLOGY

The course deals with environmental exposure and effect assessment of chemicals. Exposure and effect assessments are key elements for EU classifications and risk assessments of chemicals.
The exposure assessment covers the environmental chemical fate i.e. transport, degradation, intermedia transfer and partitioning of chemicals in different parts of the environment. These processes like biodegradation, hydrolysis, photodegradation, sorption, volatilization, and bioaccumulation are fundamental for understanding the environmental behaviour of chemicals. The processes are related to the physico-chemical and chemical structure properties and to the characteristics of the environmental compartments (water, aquatic sediments, aquatic biota, soil, and air). Calculation exercises and computer-based models for distribution of compounds are used to illustrate the environmental chemical fate.
The effect assessment covers ecotoxicological effects of chemicals. This subject is taught through lectures dealing with the theoretical aspects of toxicity testing and regulatory use of toxicity data and through field/lab experiences.
Furthermore, these fundamentals will be used to analyse environmental problems from local to landscape scale (i.e. global warming).