Risk Assessment in Environmental Health

Risk is now and always has been a part of life. This program will explore the types and magnitude of risks related to environmental health, both for human health and in the ecosystem context. The focus of this class will be on chemical environmental pollutants that affect human health, and a brief examination of biologic and radiation risk. Selected topics will include persistent organic pollutants, endocrine disrupters, heavy metals and carcinogens.

In this program we will see how the assessment of risk is informed by basic principles of toxicology. Our study will include the foundations of epidemiology, including the distinction between association and causation. We will also examine how risk assessment is used by regulatory agencies to set safe levels. This class will describe what we define as “risk”, how we estimate it, and how we interpret it. Students will examine questions such as: How much risk is too much? How do risks from different causes compare to each other qualitatively and quantitatively? What factors contribute to human health risk? How do different people perceive and rank risks?

This program involves numerical calculations and quantitative reasoning. It will include lectures, labs, computer-based workshops, guest presentations, seminars, and visits and collaborations with regional experts and officials.