Environmental Toxicology
Introduction to Environmental Toxicology
A lecture by Dr Rick Leah (Long version of Notes prepared by Dr R T Leah, Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool but including material summarized and adapted from various locations on the www*)
Aims
The impact of toxic chemicals on wildlife and humans has been of great concern for the last fifty years. Unfortunately this is a very large, complex subject area which can only be covered superficially within the time available. However, this lecture is intended to give an introduction to fundamental aspects of how some pollutants interact with living organisms to cause deleterious effects. The complexity will be explained and simplified where possible. You should understand at least a little about the biology of key organisms and how pollutants cause damage at a physiological level. You should be aware of how pollutants can induce change in organisms which can be used as a ‘biomarker’ of the presence and action of the pollutants (although this will form the subject of a later lecture in this course).
Thus as the main outcome of this lecture you should have an appreciation of the wide range of contemporary issues that are caused by toxic chemicals in the environment and what regulatory authorities are doing to monitor and control them. You should understand the main hazards that toxic chemicals pose and how risk to humans and wildlife is controlled. You should be aware of the main groups of pollutants of contemporary concern.
The material covered will be useful for the consideration of two case studies on the impact of toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes of North America and the Baltic Sea in later lectures.
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Environmental Toxicology or Ecotoxicology?
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Introduction
It was after World War II that increasing concern about the impact of toxic chemicals on the environment led Toxicology to expand from the study of toxic impacts of chemicals on man to that of toxic
A lecture by Dr Rick Leah (Long version of Notes prepared by Dr R T Leah, Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool but including material summarized and adapted from various locations on the www*)
Aims
The impact of toxic chemicals on wildlife and humans has been of great concern for the last fifty years. Unfortunately this is a very large, complex subject area which can only be covered superficially within the time available. However, this lecture is intended to give an introduction to fundamental aspects of how some pollutants interact with living organisms to cause deleterious effects. The complexity will be explained and simplified where possible. You should understand at least a little about the biology of key organisms and how pollutants cause damage at a physiological level. You should be aware of how pollutants can induce change in organisms which can be used as a ‘biomarker’ of the presence and action of the pollutants (although this will form the subject of a later lecture in this course).
Thus as the main outcome of this lecture you should have an appreciation of the wide range of contemporary issues that are caused by toxic chemicals in the environment and what regulatory authorities are doing to monitor and control them. You should understand the main hazards that toxic chemicals pose and how risk to humans and wildlife is controlled. You should be aware of the main groups of pollutants of contemporary concern.
The material covered will be useful for the consideration of two case studies on the impact of toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes of North America and the Baltic Sea in later lectures.
[pic]
Environmental Toxicology or Ecotoxicology?
[pic]
Introduction
It was after World War II that increasing concern about the impact of toxic chemicals on the environment led Toxicology to expand from the study of toxic impacts of chemicals on man to that of toxic
References: Barlow, F (1985) Chemistry and formulation. In: Pesticide Application: Principles and Practice. Ed: P T Haskell. Oxford Science Publications: Oxford. pp 1-34. Dent, D R (1995) Integrated Pest Management. Chapman & Hall: London, Glasgow, Weinheim, New York, Tokyo, Melbourne, Madras. Rombke, J & J M Moltmann (1995) Applied Ecotoxicology. Lewis Publishers: Boca Raton, New York, London, Tokyo. Ware, G W (1991) Fundamentals of Pesticides. A self-instruction guide. Thomson Publications: Fresno USA. (Connell, Lam et al. 1999) (Van Emden and Peakall 1996) (Wright and Welbourn 2002) (Rasmussen 1984; Moriarty 1988) (Walker, Hopkin et al. 2000) Relevant Reading Connell, D., P. Lam, et al. (1999). Introduction to Ecotoxicology, Blackwell Publishing. Moriarty, F. (1988). Ecotoxicology: the study of pollutants in ecosystems. London, Academic Press. Rasmussen, L. (1984). Ecotoxicology. Stockholm, Publishing House of the Swedish Research Councils. Van Emden, H. and D. Peakall (1996). Beyond Silent Spring, Chapman & Hall. Walker, C. H., S. P. Hopkin, et al. (2000). Principles of ecotoxicology. London; New York, Taylor & Francis. Wright, D. A. and P. Welbourn (2002). Environmental Toxicology, Cambridge University Press. Agricultural Chemicals and the Environment. 1996 R E Hester & R M Harrison Beyond Silent Spring. 1996 H Van Emden & D Peakall Biology and Ecology of Earthworms, 3rd Edition. 1995 C A Edwards and P Bohlen Biomarkers for Agrochemicals and Risk Assessment. 1996 J N Blancato, R N Brown, C C Dary and M A Saleh (editors) Ecotoxicology: Ecological Dimensions. Ecotoxicology Series Vol 4. 1996 D J Baird, P E Douben, P Greig-Smith & L Maltby Ecotoxicology in Theory and Practice. Ecotoxicology Series Vol 2. 1993. Environmental Compliance Handbook. 1996 J I Bregman, C A Kelley & J R Melchor Environmental Impact of Chemicals: Assessment and Control. 1995 M Quint, D Taylor and R Purchase (editors) Handbook of Ecological Parameters and Ecotoxicology. 1991 S E J¿rgensen, S N Nielsen & L A J¿rgensen Handbook of Ecotoxicology. 1994 David J Hoffman & B A Rattner (editors) Interconnections between Human and Ecosystem Health. Ecotoxicology Series Vol 3. 1996 R T Di Guilio and E Monosson (editors) Pesticides. Developments, Impacts and Control. 1995