Tools in environmental toxicology: assessing the impact of contaminants

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The course is intended to be a practical course. It is organized in 11 laboratory and classroom modules (at the University of Coimbra) in which each module will begin with a theoretical-practical (TP) teaching component to contextualize the environmental toxicology tool and a summary presentation of the respective international standard/protocol, followed by a teaching component practical and laboratory (PL) during which students execute the tool under study based on the standard/protocol. At the end of each module there will be a theoretical-practical teaching (TP) component for data processing and interpretation of results. At the end of the 11 modules, there will be an autonomous work module (O) to solve a “Case Study of Assessment of the Impact of Contaminants”, in which participants will have to apply the knowledge acquired about the tools taught, with the online support of the teachers/researchers.

Learning Outcomes

This course aims that participants: (1) acquire basic knowledge and skills about environmental toxicology and its role in assessing the impact of contaminants on ecosystems, (2) theoretical and practical skills with a high degree of autonomy over a range of tools, in successive levels of biological organization for terrestrial and aquatic organisms representing key functional and taxonomic groups, from their execution to the processing and interpretation of results, in accordance with international standardized standards/protocols, (3) competences in the application of the different tools in approaches to ecological risk assessment at the regulatory level.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Assessing the effects of contaminants on soil microbiome
Microbial-mediated leaf litter decomposition
Uses of DNA barcode data in biodiversity research
Importance of background genetic diversity in test organisms
Cell-based assays in environmental biomonitoring and risk assessment
The ecotoxicity of bionematicides to soil nematode communities
The ecotoxicity of contaminants to soil invertebrates in risk assessment
The ecotoxicity of contaminants to pollinators in risk assessment
The ecotoxicity of contaminants to aquatic microalgae and invertebrates in risk assessment
Talking plants: adverse effects of contaminants on sensory mechanisms between organisms
Ecological risk assessment: approaches and regulatory frameworks.

Head Lecturer(s)

Matilde Maria Moreira dos Santos

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Attendance: 30.0%
Continuous evaluation: 35.0%
Autonomous work: 35.0%

Bibliography

van Gestel C.A.M.,Van Belleghem F.G.A.J., van den Brink N.W.,Droge S.T.J.,Hamers T., Hermens J.L.M., Kraak M.H.S., Löhr A.J., Parsons J.R., Ragas A.M.J., van Straalen N.M. & Vijver M.G.(2019).Environmental Toxicology, an open online textbook. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC);https://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=501319930
Peixoto S.Loureiro S. & Henriques I.(2022).The impact of silver sulfide nanoparticles and silver ions in soil microbiome.Journal of Hazardous Materials,422: 126793
doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126793
Letourneau A.,Seena S.,Marvanová L.&Bärlocher F.(2010).Potential use of barcoding to identify aquatic hyphomycetes.Fungal Diversity 40: 51-64
doi:10.1007/s13225-009-0006-8
Rocha R.F.,Silva A.D.,Godinho L.,Dane W.,Estrela P.Vandamme L.K.J.,Pereira-Leal J.B.,de Leeuw D.M. & Leite R.B.(2018).Collective electrical oscillations of a diatom populat induced by dark stress.Scientific Reports 8: 5484
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41598-018-23928-9