Corporate Training By Zack Academy - Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology

Why Should You Take This Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology course?

This Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology course provides participants with a strong foundation of aquatic toxicology and how these concepts are applied to managing pollutants in aquatic environments. The course covers terminology, common test designs, and endpoints such as lethality and endocrine disruption. Important legacy and emerging pollutants of concern such as heavy metals, organic pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and nanoparticles will also be presented. Fate and transport as it relates to bioavailability and pollutant partitioning in aquatic environments will be discussed. Water Quality criteria from the Clean Water Act with an emphasis on, and examples of, site specific criteria for metals using hardness correction, water effects ratio (WER), and the biotic ligand model (BLM) are also included.

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply toxicology principles to environmental issues.
• Understand how aquatic organisms are exposed to toxic chemicals.
• Identify factors affecting toxicity.
• Understand similarities and differences between the toxicity of metals and organic chemicals.
• Understand modes of action of toxic chemicals, types of effects from the molecular to the ecosystem level, and detoxification processes.
• Assess toxicity in terms of LC50 and EC50, and develop dose-response curves.
• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of various toxicity testing methods.
• Understand the scientific basis for and limitations of water quality standards.

Intended Audience:  This course is designed for professionals seeking a greater understanding of aquatic toxicology and for practitioners and agency personnel, including toxicologists, biologists, ecologists, hydrologists, planners and regulators involved with stream issues.

Prerequisites:  Some college-level biology and chemistry coursework is required (even if it was a long time ago). A fundamental understanding of aquatic ecology is also helpful.

Topics To Be Covered Include:

• Classes of toxic chemicals (carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, and others).
• Sources of toxic chemicals entering the aquatic environment.
• Exposure pathways for aquatic organisms.
• Biological, physical, and chemical factors affecting bioavailability and toxicity.
• Bioaccumulation, bioconcentration, and biomagnification.
• Modes of toxic chemical action, including enzyme inhibition and endocrine disruption.
• Types of toxic effects: biochemical, molecular, physiological, behavioral, population, and community.
• Toxicity testing methods: acute and chronic, single and multiple species.
• Laboratory assessment of toxicity: LC50, EC50, NOEC, LOEC, MATC, and dose-response curves.
• Development and use of water quality standards.
• Field application of toxicology using the biomarkers.

What to Bring to Class:  Pen or pencil, and paper if you do not want to take notes in your manual. Drinks and snacks will be provided each day. Lunch will be on your own.