Zinc resistant Viola calaminaria 
(La Calamine, Belgium; photo: J. Lamers)

ES 120 FALL 2008

Toxics in the Environment

FIRST DAY OF CLASS:

THU SEP 25 11:00-12:15

GIRVETZ 1116

OUTLINE has all the links to homework, notes, sheets, etc, etc.

Syllabus

ES Home Page

Useful links:

Facts and stories about toxic metals and metalloids (Darthmouth)

Data base toxic compounds, environmental focus (Scorecard)

Data base toxic compounds, human health focus (ATSDR)

Handbook of Environmental Chemistry (access from campus or via proxy only)

The instructor examining zinc tolerant V. calaminaria

Instructor: Erik Muller

muller(at)lifesci.ucsb.edu

570 9910 (this is my cell; urgent matters only please)

Class: Girvetz 1116 Tue/ Thu 11:00-12:15

Office hours: Tue 9:45 – 10:45 am Noble Hall 2003 (location may change)

Other times by appointment

This course offers an introduction to environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology. We will try to answer three central questions (which implicitly define the fields of environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology):

• What are the nature and characteristics of toxic compounds in the environment? Here we address the abiotic aspects of toxic compounds by examining their source and types, their chemical behavior in the (natural) environment and their fate.

• What are the effects of toxic compounds on biological systems? We discuss how organisms take up, process and accumulate toxic compounds. We also investigate toxicity mechanisms on the molecular and biochemical level, and examine how toxic compounds affect organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems.

• How do we assess environmental toxicity in practice? There are two parts to this question: the determination of the toxicity of a compound using standardized laboratory tests, and the assessment of the health of populations and ecosystems.