The main educational purposes are to provide knowledge on:
1) impacts of contaminants in the ecosystem with particular reference to different classic and emerging chemical classes;
2) assessment methods to establish when a contaminant becomes a pollutant;
3) forecasting methods for establishing the exposure and effects of pollutants and estimating the environmental risk.
This course aimed to provide to students (1) knowledge and main methods to develop scientific criteria essential to the pollutants’ management by institutional authorities for the ecosystem safeguarding, and (2) basic knowledges to study the effects of toxicant in cells and higher levels of complexity - individual, population, community - and their environmental fate.
Prerequisiti
Basic knowledge of Ecology, Citology, Botany, Zoology
1) impacts of contaminants in the ecosystem with particular reference to different classic and emerging chemical classes;
2) assessment methods to establish when a contaminant becomes a pollutant;
3) forecasting methods for establishing the exposure and effects of pollutants and estimating the environmental risk.
This course aimed to provide to students (1) knowledge and main methods to develop scientific criteria essential to the pollutants’ management by institutional authorities for the ecosystem safeguarding, and (2) basic knowledges to study the effects of toxicant in cells and higher levels of complexity - individual, population, community - and their environmental fate.
Prerequisiti
Basic knowledge of Ecology, Citology, Botany, Zoology
teacher profile teaching materials
Additional teaching material will be provided during the course
Programme
Introductory concepts: Classical Toxicology, Ecotoxicology and differences between them. Different classes of contaminants: known and emerging. Exposure to pollutants: Resistance, Resilience, Bioconcentration, Biomagnification and abiotic Degradation Processes, Biodegradation and Metabolism. Exposure Prediction: environmental monitoring and predictive models. Risk estimation: risk index formulation. Prediction of resistance to degradation: qualitative and quantitative models. Prediction of pollutant effects: QSAR (Toxicity based on molecular properties, partition coefficients) and Environmental Quality Criteria. Effects of toxic substances at various levels of complexity (cell, individual, population, community); acute and chronic toxicity; toxicity and ecotoxicity tests and use of different model organisms. (Eco-)toxicological testing in active biomonitoring. Different types of tests based on matrix to be analyzed (water, soil, air), mode of contaminant administration (static, periodic, continuous), time of contaminant administration (acute, chronic), type of biomarker response (molecular, physiological, cytological, morphological). Embryonic ecotoxicology and teratogenesis tests: effect of toxicants at embryonic level. Standardized and experimental tests. OECD and ISO guidelines. Case studies and applications of ecotoxicological research. Experimental activities in the laboratory.Core Documentation
Marco Vighi e Eros Bacci, Ecotossicologia, UTET, 1998.Additional teaching material will be provided during the course
Reference Bibliography
Consultation of scientific papers in international scientific journals of the sectorType of delivery of the course
The course will take place with classroom lesson, performed in mixed mode that involves the use of the Microsoft Teams platform to transmit lessons to attending students from home and the uploading of lesson pdfs and other material useful for teaching purposes to the platform identified by the University, such as Moodle. Lessons cannot be recorded. Experimental activities in the laboratory are planned.Attendance
Frequency at lessons and field trips is not mandatory but highly recommended.Type of evaluation
Oral exam with questions on topics covered during the course. teacher profile teaching materials
Programme
Introduction: differences between classical, environmental toxicology and ecotoxicology; basics of classical and functional ecology. Classes of contaminants, general and emerging. Study of the effects of pollutants: fate of pollutants in organisms, molecular effects, acute and chronic toxicity; laboratory essays; biomarkers (general, exposure, effect and specific). Embryonic ecotoxicology: effect of toxic substances at the embryonic level, during postnatal development, in adult life and during aging. Prediction of the effects of pollutants: QSAR (Toxicity based on molecular properties, partition coefficients and application examples) and Environmental Quality Criteria. Exposure to pollutants: biogeochemical cycles, bioconcentration, bioaccumulation and biomagnification, food toxicology and degradation processes (resistance, residence, biodegradation, metabolism, abiotic degradation). Exposure forecast: environmental monitoring and forecasting models; prediction of resistance to degradation (qualitative and quantitative models). Risk Estimation: risk index formulation and application examples.Core Documentation
Marco Vighi e Eros Bacci, Ecotossicologia, UTET, 1998.Reference Bibliography
Additional teaching material will be provided during the courseType of delivery of the course
frontal lessons and exercises in both classroom and teaching laboratoriesAttendance
attendance is stringly requestedType of evaluation
the final test will consist in a oral exam