Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Environmental Risk Analysis and Management

Course Description

This course introduces the principles of environmental toxicology and risk assessment. Study of the basic principles of toxicology, including routes of exposure, dose response, and target organ effects from exposure to environmental toxicants will be covered. The course presents the quantitative methods used to assess the human health risks associated with exposure to toxicants, focusing on the four major components of risk assessment hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. Risk communication and public consultation will also be addressed. The course will include an overview of Canadian regulations and policies and their impact on the practical realties facing practitioners, policy makers and stakeholders. We will explore risk assessment issues related to exposure to contaminated sites, air quality and projects undergoing Environmental Assessment. The intent is to make this course hands on and practical so that you are able to participate as a team member conducting human health and ecological risk assessment upon its completion. The course will be based on actual undertakings of Canadian risk assessment projects.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to understand the concepts of human health risk assessment and how to apply them in the Canadian regulatory context. Their understanding will go far beyond the theoretical. The course is designed with practical hands on case studies and examples of how to apply the concepts to environmental health challenges facing Canadians. The first half of the course involves understanding the concepts of environmental toxicology, exposure and the mathematics required to conducting a health risk assessment. These fundamentals will be demonstrated through the students conducting individual risk assessments for a federal contaminated site. In the second part of the course students will use this foundation to explore complex environmental health matters involved in the siting of major infrastructure projects across the country. Issues around air quality, electromagnetic field exposure and non-chemical stressors such as noise and shadow flicker from renewable energy will be explored. They will also explore risk communication and the skill of communicating complex scientific concepts to the general public. The students will be able to demonstrate their applied knowledge in the final term paper and presentation to the class. Ultimately, after completing the class each of the student would have the knowledge to participate a team member in a professional environmental health sciences company or government team.

Methods of Assessment

Quizzes	20%
Assignment 1: Preliminary Quantitative Risk Assessment	35%
Term Project Report Presentations	30% 10%
Participation	5%