Toxicology: Classical and Environmental

Catalog description

Toxicology is a multidisciplinary science that combines chemistry, physiology, and pharmacology to determine the potential harm of substance exposures from the environment, abused in addictive behaviors, or are over-ingested. This elective is designed to introduce students to the fields of both classical toxicology and environmental (ecotoxicology) toxicology. Toxicology is traditionally known as the science of poisons and examines the effects of drugs or poisons on human health. Environmental toxicology focuses on how environmental contaminants such as radioactive metal, heavy metals, pesticides, halogenated aromatic compounds, environmental endocrine disruptors, and pharmaceuticals and personal care products effect the environment and human health. Students will learn how toxicology investigations and methods are used to understand how human systems respond to toxic chemicals. Topics to be discussed include pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, mechanisms of action and adverse effects of over-ingested substances, drug overdoses, poisonings, polypharmacology of the elderly, and environmental based toxicities.