NIFK15005U Environmental and Human Health Risk Assessment of Chemicals
MSc Programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health
The purpose of the course is to provide the students with an in-depth knowledge of the current risk assessment procedures for chemicals within the European Union.
The course consists of two parts: 1) Principles for risk regulation and risk management, and 2) Practical implications for conducting risk assessment of a chemical, including the type of data needed for exposure and effect assessments and how these are used within the different risk assessment frameworks.
The course will cover both environmental and human health issues, including examples such as food additives, solvents, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals. Furthermore, the course serves to give the students an introduction to handling "other effect types" (e.g., allergy, carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, mutagenicity) and emerging contaminants (e.g., endocrine disruptors, nanomaterials) in risk assessments.
There will be a general introduction to relevant risk assessment frameworks and the ethical and economic principles underlying risk regulation and risk management, including discussion of risk perception studies and risk communication. Risk regulation and risk management options will be discussed in connection with the examples used throughout the course.
Knowledge:
- Give an overview of the most important frameworks for chemical risk assessment in the EU
- Define the principles for setting limit values in the environment and for human health
- Describe exposure scenarios and the principles of the exposure and effect assessments of chemical substances in the context of EU risk assessment frameworks
Skills:
- Classify chemicals according to their hazards to humans and the environment and the relevant risk assessment framework
- Identify relevant data for human health and environmental risk assessments of chemicals
- Apply and critically evaluate methods for effect and exposure assessment of chemicals
Competences:
- Analyze and discuss the principles underlying currently used regulatory frameworks for risk assessment of chemicals
- Set, evaluate and discuss limit values for the environment and human health
- Analyze, evaluate and discuss chemical risk assessment reports
The course literature will be collected in a compendium, which will be available before course start.
- Category
- Hours
- Exam
- 1
- Exercises
- 36
- Lectures
- 36
- Preparation
- 72
- Study Groups
- 60
- Total
- 205
As
an exchange, guest and credit student - click here!
Continuing Education - click here!
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Oral examination, 20 min. preparation + 20 min. examOral examination based on two mandatory course reports and questions given at the day of the exam
- Exam registration requirements
Two mandatory course reports
- Aid
- Only certain aids allowed
Written works of reference are permitted
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
- Re-exam
The same as the ordinary exam.
If the student has not handed in the mandatory reports, then they must be handed in two weeks prior to the deadline of registration for the re-exam. They must be approved before the re-exam.
Criteria for exam assesment
See learning outcome
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- NIFK15005U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 block
- Placement
- Block 4
- Schedule
- C
- Course capacity
- Minimum 10
Maximum 40 - Continuing and further education
- Study board
- Study Board of Natural Resources and Environment
Contracting department
- Department of Food and Resource Economics
Course responsibles
- Tyler Joshua Kasperbauer (3-786e6f446d6a7673326f7932686f)
Lecturers
Karsten Klint Jensen (kkj@ifro.ku.dk)
Tyler Joshua Kasperbauer (tjk@ifro.ku.dk)
Guest lecturers