Formation Environmental pollution

Présentation

Formation dispensée en Anglais

The physical environment of industrialized countries (air, water and soil) has been affected by a wide range of pollutants for centuries. Localized pollution from anthropogenic sources has been observed since Antiquity. However, extensive pollution of the environment was a characteristic of the industrial revolution and major and widespread impacts have been observed throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Contaminated sites are the legacy of a long period of industrialisation involving inconsiderate production and handling of hazardous substances and inadequate dumping of wastes. The expansion of industry and the increasing numbers of industrial wastes have led to considerable environmental problems that apply in all industrialised countries. Nowadays, developing countries have to face the same problems.

Objectifs

Learning outcomes

• Understand the main issues linked with contaminated areas and the main challenges to face
• Know the major pollutants in the environment
• Learn the main characteristics of major pollutants
• Understand the fate of pollutants in biotic matrixes (bacteria, plants, animals)
• Get the basis on toxicology and ecotoxicology
• Integrate this knowledge in ecosystems
• understand and use results from exposure and bioaccumulation experiments;
• understand and use results from ecotoxicological experiments with non-standard test species;
• understand and use results on the effects of chemicals on food-webs;
• interpret the results of chemical fate and ecological models;
• interpret data from microcosm and mesocosm experiments;
• perform an advanced data analysis on chemical and biological monitoring data;
• perform advanced exposure, effect and risk assessments of chemicals in ecosystems.
• Practice collaborative group work: work, oral presentation, debate

Teaching methods

Alternance between few lectures and PBL. Two PBL activities (one on Lac Megantic disaster, the other one on Environmental Risk Assessment of a pesticide) will be the central part of this course.

Assessment methods

Individual written exam (2 hours): 20% of the final mark
Group work PBL1 (oral presentation 15 min + 10 min questions): 40% of the final mark
Group work PBL2 (oral presentation 15 min + debate): 40% of the final mark

Training Manager :

B. POURRUT

Contenu de la formation

Course organization

• Lectures : 12h
• PBL : 58h

Course description

This course will provide basic knowledge on main pollutants and their sources. It is organized as follow:

1- Introductive lectures: main challenges and key concepts (4h)

The introductory lectures will define the term pollutant, pollution and contamination. Through an historical approach, the evolution of environmental concern in industrialized countries and developing countries will be discussed. The main issues linked with pollution and the main challenges to face will be highlighted.

2. Toxicology and Ecotoxicology

This part of the course focuses on the fate of toxic compounds and their effects on animals and plants from single individuals to populations and ecosystems.
It is organized in:

• lectures (4h) dealing with the:
  • main exposure routes (inhalation, ingestion, contact…);
  • mechanisms of bioconcentration, bioamplification and bioaccumulation;
  • main mechanisms of pollutant toxicity;
  • main mechanisms of pollutant detoxification;
  • effects on populations and ecosystems.

• PBL 1 (Problem-based learning, 30h): The case study is based on the Lac-Mégantic disaster. Students are considered to be an employee of a consulting company that has to assess the environmental impact of this accident in the area. They will have as working group of 3-4 persons.
  These groups will work on:
  
  • matrixes sampling strategy
  • pollutants analysis in matrixes
  • living being sampling strategy
  • pollutants analysis in living being
  • use of Ecotoxicological tools

At the end, each group will present the conclusions of their investigations. The various options will be discussed and commented.

3. Environmental Risk Assessment

Environmental Risk Assessment is a process for estimating the likelihood or probability of an adverse outcome or event due to pressures or changes in environmental conditions resulting from human activities.
This part of the course will be organized as follow :

• Lectures (4h) on chemical stress ecology and how this field of science can be applied in practice (e.g. registration procedures of pesticides) will be given. Development of methods to extrapolate effects on food-web interactions and recovery-processes to untested situations is one of the major challenges of the ecological risk assessment of chemicals. 
• PBL 2 (28h): Environmental Risk assessment of a pesticide. Students are considered to play role of different stakeholders (chemical company, environmental protection NGO, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture), and will have to assess the risk of a new pesticide that a company wants to put on the market. They will have to decide after oral presentations and debates about  of this accident in the area. They will have as working group of 3-4 persons.
  These groups will work on:
  
  • the use of standard tests in the ecological risk assessment of pesticides;
  • the use of non-standard test species and metapopulation models in the ecological risk assessment of pesticides;
  • implications of differences between temperate and tropical freshwaters for the ecological risk assessment of pesticides;
  • registration procedure of plant protection products in Europe. 

This case will show how the scientific framework of chemical stress ecology can be applied in different areas.

Condition d'accès

Audience :

Technicians and engineers in the concerned field.

Prerequisites :

basics in biology, cell biology and physiology, and ecology.

Lieu(x) de la formation

• Auzeville-Tolosane

Contact(s) administratif(s)