ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2020/2021
- Teacher
- STEFANIA MERIGHI
- Credits
- 6
- Curriculum
- BIOTECNOLOGIE PER L'AMBIENTE
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/14
Training objectives
- Educational objective of the Environmental Toxicology course provides students with the basic knowledge necessary to understand and evaluate the toxicological risk of environmental contaminants on organisms , populations , communities and ecosystems. To this end, particular emphasis will be addressed on environmental and biological indicators to analyze the acute and chronic effects of pollutants and xenobioti, present in various environmental media (e.g. water, soil, air, sediments), in food and industrial products, on the biosphere. It will be studied the toxicological profile and mechanism of action of anthropogenic and biogenic substances, that are responsible for environmental pollution and not easily transformed by natural processes (i.e. photochemical oxidation, biological processes) in non-toxic substances.
The course aims to offer students an overview as complete as possible of how environmental damage is often irreversible and how changes of existing life balance between plants and creatures can be the causes of a reduced quality of life and the onset of pathological conditions. In addition, they should be able to carry out assessments on rational basis of the peculiar and/or multidisciplinary issues related to the impact of some toxic substances have on the environment and living beings including humans. Prerequisites
- The following knowledge is required:
• General, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Fundamentals of General and Applied Ecology Course programme
- The course includes 48 hours of classroom teaching.
General section: (28 hours)
Introduction to the course. Differences in toxicology, environmental toxicology and ecotoxicology. General concepts of contaminant, polluting and xenobiota.
- Dissemination, distribution and effects of pollutants in the environment and organisms: Bioconcentration. Bioaccumulation. Biomagnification. Partition coefficients: Kow, Koc, KAW.
Bioaccumulation indicators. Biomarkers. Role of biomarkers in biomonitoring.
- Acute and chronic toxicity parameters and "endpoints" for the quantification and assessment of acute and chronic damage of pollutants (LC50, EC50, IC50, NOEC, LOEC). Concentration/response curve. Presentation of some acute and chronic aquatic toxicity assays (algae, Daphnia magna, Cerodaphnia dubia and bioluminescent bacteria). terrestrial toxicity assays (API).
Special section: (20 hours)
- Toxicokinetics of a xenobiotic in organisms: exposure, absorption, distribution, storage, metabolism and biotransformation, elimination. Interaction between toxic substances: additivity, synergism and antagonism.
- Toxicity mechanisms in various tissues, organs and systems: neurotoxicity; teratogenicity; hepatotoxicity; nephrotoxicity; haematotoxicity; pulmonary toxicity. Methods of study.
- Toxicity induced by:
Pesticides (organochlorines, pyrethroids, organophosphates and carbamates). Metals (As, Hg, Pb, Cd). fibrous materials (asbestos). Pollution from industrial sources, and from drugs used by patients. Hints about Eco-Pharmacovigilance development. Didactic methods
- Lectures inline that will be made available to students
Learning assessment procedures
- The level of achievement of previously indicated learning objectives is assessed through a written exam lasting 1 hour. 30 questions will be formulated with multiple choice answers. Each question is worth 1 point if correct; wrong answer or no answer 0 points; limited to 31 correct answers match score of 30/30 cum laude; 18 correct answers match score of 18/30. In order to pass the exam, the student must obtain a minimum score of 18 out of 30.
Reference texts
- Teacher’s handouts
Specific topics can be further developed in the following texts.
Casarett & Doull. Elementi di tossicologia di John B. III Watkins, Curtis D. Klaassen (2013) CEA
Marzano - Medana. Chimica Tossicologica (2018) Piccin.
ALLEGRUCCI M., DI PAOLO A., FANTOZZI R., GOVONI S., MAFFEI F.Tossicologia. Principi e applicazione all'uso dei farmaci e dei prodotti della salute First edition (2009) GHI P.
Galli - Corsini - Marinovich - Tossicologia (2016) Piccin
