3 ECTS credits
80 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4023212ENR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.
Contaminants in the environment can be harmful for human health. The nature of the contaminants, their concentrations and the exposure routes are the basic elements for carrying out risk analyses. Food is one of the major exposure routes. Combining the food basket (diet) of the population under study with the concentrations of the contaminants in their food allows us to estimate the total exposure.
A number of representative cases will be treated and discussed in the theoretical and practical classes.
Contaminants that will be considered are: trace metals, metalloids and their complexes (Hg, As, …) and organic pollutants (PCB, dioxins, ..). In addition, the student has to perform a literature study task related to the subject.
Following aspects will be discussed:
-Contaminants in the environment and exposure routes for humans
-Contaminant levels in food
-European directives for contaminants in food
-Harmonized procedures to calculate the exposure and to estimate the uncertainties
-Toxicological data and database
-Nutritional habits (diet) of the population; bij de bevolking; differences in diet and intake of food products for different population sub-groups (socio-demografic and age variables)
-Contaminant accumulation calculations, based on intake and half-life; identification of population sub-groups that are at risk.
eaching methods:
Teaching methods consist of lectures related to exposure pathways, intake calculations, health effects. The main part of the course is independent work which is guided by the titular in work sessions.
Course material:
Power point slides used for teaching, specific research articles and links to relevant web-sites made available via Canvas
After this course, the student should be able to
- consult various information sources about food consumption of various population sub-groups (different nationalities, age, diet habits,…)
- consult various information sources about the levels of contaminants in food
- apply current methodologies to estimate exposure via food
- consult various toxicological databases about tolerable daily intake (TDI) values and to compare them with calculated contaminant intake values via food.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Students have to make a presentation of the task that they received to be carried out in the framework of this course and have to submit the Excel file of the calculations made. The presentation will be followed by a discussion about
(1) the methods and the strategy that were used to obtain the results;
(2) the interpretation of the results;
(3) the conclusions.
The profound, insightful knowledge acquired by the student will be tested.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Chemistry: Analytical and Environmental Chemistry