SCC0182 - ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT

courses

ID:

SCC0182

Duration (hours):

56

CFU:

SSD:

ECOLOGIA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (23/02/2026 - 29/05/2026)

Course Objectives

Educational objectives
The course aims to provide students with advanced tools for assessing environmental risk and what is needed for its management. It is placed in the first year of the Master's course, in the context of the Chemical Risk curriculum and starts from basic concepts of Ecotoxicology previously acquired to deepen them in a systematic way.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Understand what is meant by environmental risk assessment or ecosystem risk.
2. describe its inclusion in Chemical risk management
4. apply the knowledge acquired to be able to perform a risk assessment for a substance,
5. understand what information is to be obtained in the various stages of exposure and effects assessment.
6. weigh this information to reach a choice of parameters and procedures suitable for the evaluation

Course Prerequisites

Knowledge of general and applied ecology, inorganic and organic chemistry, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology. Finally, the understanding of the spoken and written English language is required as slides, extracts from publications, scientific texts and manuals will be in English.

Teaching Methods

Class lessons with computer lab exercises. The purpose of the exercises is to acquire the most of the theoretical skills by applying them to the resolution of specific problems such as the analysis of exposure, the evaluation of input and output data, the collection of data (from public databases) on the emission, the diffusion and effects of chemicals on the main terrestrial and aquatic species, the characterization of the risk for specific molecules.
A final report is to be provided by the students and must be presented at the time of the oral test, containing the chemical risk assessment for the selected molecules

Assessment Methods

The final exam is oral and covers the entire program of the course.
For the purposes of the final judgment, the teacher assesses: the student's level of preparation, but also the ability to express him/herself with an appropriate scientific language, the ability to logically organize the speech; the capacity for critical reasoning on the study carried out;
The Cum Laude mark is awarded when the student shows optimal levels of preparation and processing of the information acquired.

The course deals with environmental risk assessment, which is part of the more general context of risk management. Topics related to the assessment of exposure and the effects of chemical substances will be explored, focusing on risk characterization for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. During the practical exercises, risk assessment for selected organic contaminants will be conducted, following the procedure learned during the lectures.